BV  64  7  .K4  1910 
Kern,  John  A.  1846-1926. 
A  study  of  Christianity  as 
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CHRISTIANITY  AS  ORGANIZED 


ITS  IDEAS  AND  FORMS 


John  A.  'Kern 

PROFESSOR  OF  PRACTICAL  THEOLOGY  IN  VANDERBILT 
UNIVERSITY 


IVe  think  ourselves  obliged  frequently  to  view  and  reviezv  the  -whole 
order  of  our  Church,  alvjays  aiming  at  perfection,  standing  on  ike 
shoulders  of  those  who  have  lived  before  us,  and  takitig  advantage 
of  our  former  selves.  —Coke  and  Asbury,  Episcopal  Address  (i7gz). 

'Tis  the  vjork  of  a  life  till  our  lump  be  leaven — 
The  better;  what's  come  to  perfection  perishes. 

—  Browning,  "Old  Pictures  in  Florence." 


Nashville,  Tenn.;  Dallas,  Tex. 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South 

Smith  &  Lamar,  Agents 

1910 


Copyright,  1910 

BY 

Smith  &  Lamar 


TO 

MY   COMRADES    IN   CONFERENCE 

IN    MEMORY   OF   FORTY-FOUR    NOT   UNEVENTFUL   YEARS 

IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  OUR   MASTER 

UNDER    AN    ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY 

HAPPILY  ADAPTED  TO  THE  CONDITIONS   IN   WHICH   IT  AROSE 

SINGULARLY   SUCCESSFUL   HITHERTO 

PROMISEFUL  FOR  THE  FUTURE 

LIABLE   OF    NECESSITY    TO   ABUSE   COMMENSURATE    WITH 

ITS  GREAT  AGGRESSIVE  FORCE 

(iii) 


The  stateliness  of  houses,  the  goodliness  of  trees,  when  we  behold  them, 
delighteth  the  eye ;  but  the  foundation  which  beareth  up  the  one,  the  root 
which  ministereth  unto  the  other,  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth  concealed ; 
and  if  there  be  occasion  at  any  time  to  search  into  it,  such  labor  is  then  more 
necessary  than  pleasant,  both  to  them  that  undertake  it  and  for  the  lookers- 
on.  In  like  manner,  the  use  and  benefit  of  good  Laws  all  that  live  under 
them  may  enjoy  with  delight  and  comfort,  albeit  the  grounds  and  first 
original  causes  from  whence  they  have  sprung  be  unknown,  as  to  the  great- 
est part  of  men  they  are. — Richard  Hooker. 

Ideas  make  the  world  we  live  in. — Helen  Keller. 
(iv) 


PREFACE. 

Christianity,  as  it  becomes  a  common  faith  and  experience, 
will  draw  people  together  into  congregations,  or  churches.  More- 
over, it  will  develop  in  these  churches  various  offices  of  over- 
sight and  ministration.  Thus  it  organizes  itself  for  doing  the 
work  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

Church  organization,  therefore,  so  far  as  it  bears  the  name 
worthily,  is  not  something  apart  from  Christian  faith  and  ex- 
perience. On  the  contrary,  it  is  an  outer  form  of  the  inner  spir- 
itual life.     Most  truly  speaking,  it  is  Christianity  as  organized. 

In  a  study  of  Christianity,  however,  organization  would  not 
be  generally  chosen  as  its  most  attractive  aspect.  It  has  too  much 
the  appearance  of  legal  mechanism.  Also,  it  has  provoked  a 
great  deal  of  discreditable  controversy — in  this  respect  standing 
by  no  means  alone — and  may  seem  to  tend  practically  to  division 
rather  than  unity  in  the  Christian  world. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  certain  sincere  minds  should  be  dis- 
posed to  pass  by  such  a  theme  with  a  very  moderate  amount  of 
attention.  Yet  in  point  of  fact  it  is  full-laden  with  interest  and 
significance.  If  the  reader  find  it  otherwise,  the  fault  will  be  the 
writer's — or  possibly  his  own. 

Not,  indeed,  that  the  structural  forms  of  even  so  transcendent 
a  truth  as  Christianity  must  need  be  interesting  for  their  own 
sake  and  in  themselves.  They  are  nothing  in  themselves ;  but  as 
an  expression  of  the  movements  of  a  great  and  abundant  life 
within,  they  do  possess  the  power  of  exciting  perpetual  interest. 
This,  to  be  sure,  is  true  of  everything:  the  inner  is  the  real. 
The  letters  are  not  the  word:  the  thing  seen  is  not  the  reality. 
Out  of  the  horror  of  burning  a  live  human  body  to  a  hideous 
cinder  there  may  go  forth  a  universal  inspiration  to  that  which 
is  true  and  good;  but  all  because  of  the  truth  of  self-sacrifice 
which  the  murdered  martyr  embodies.  What  measure  of  interest 
would  be  awakened  by  a  human  face  but  for  the  invisible  soul 
that  appears  in  it?     The  "expression" — the  unseen  self  visual- 

(v) 


vi  Preface 

ized — is  what  we  value.  And  the  forms  of  organization  which 
the  rehgion  of  Christ  has  taken,  whether  recent  or  historic,  are 
no  exception  to  the  rule  that  the  life  is  more  than  any  outward 
structure  that  it  builds.  Back  of  them  all  may  be  felt  the  heart- 
beat of  human  ideas,  energies,  passions,  conscience,  aspirations. 
Their  history,  therefore,  is  easily  susceptible  of  illustration,  from 
beginning  to  end,  with  personal  characteristics  and  incidents. 
Above  all,  there  appears,  by  its  proper  tokens,  though  without 
violence  to  even  the  most  perverse  wills  of  men,  the  sovereign 
purpose  of  God  in  his  Church's  life  on  earth. 

It  is,  then,  the  humanity  back  of  every  ecclesiastical  question, 
with  the  Divine  hand  in  the  human  struggle,  that  makes  the 
story  great. 

Now  the  organization  of  a  local  church,  in  this  or  that  in- 
stance, may  indeed  appear  quite  truly  as  little  more  than  mechan- 
ism. But  so  likewise  may  the  utterance  of  prayers,  the  singing 
of  hymns,  the  delivery  of  sermons,  the  offering  of  money,  the 
administration  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  the  Chris- 
tian congregation.  Yet  no  one  would  declare  this  to  be  the 
proper  character  or  design  of  these  devotional  observances.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  a  sign  of  degeneration — they  are  losing  their 
life.  And  the  case  is  just  the  same  with  the  forms  of  organiza- 
tion under  which,  together  with  certain  forms  of  worship,  a 
church  of  Jesus  Christ  would  live  its  life  and  do  its  work  in  the 
world.    They  are  simply  untrue  to  their  idea,  unless  alive. 

The  present  treatise  is  designedly  expository.  Its  aim  is  to 
relate  the  facts  as  known,  or  supposed  to  be.  with  as  near  an  ap- 
proach as  possible  to  truth  in  explanation  and  criticism.  I  have 
hoped  to  set  down  a  good  deal  in  the  way  of  fact  and  truth,  with 
something  of  inference  and  something  of  suggestion. 

Argument,  indeed,  cannot  be  wholly  avoided ;  and  what  may 
seem  to  be  a  polemic  trend  will  here  and  there  intrude.  But 
whatever  bias  of  judgment  as  to  any  particular  organization  may 
betray  itself  would  plead  to  be  charitably  condemned  as  an  un- 
conscious intellectual  vice.  Of  course  it  may  be  none  the  less 
real  on  that  account;  for  "who  can  understand  his  errors"  or 


Preface  vii 

claim  to  be  free  from  "secret  faults?"  It  is  so  easy  for  feeling 
and  will  to  distort  fact,  minifying  or  magnifying,  confusing 
segment  and  circle.  Nevertheless  one  must  recognize  the  obliga- 
tion, and  may  be  permitted  to  profess  the  intention,  at  least,  of 
speaking  the  whole  unperverted  truth  in  love.  And  as  to  contro- 
versy, it  is  worse  than  vanity  (in  both  senses  of  this  word)  un- 
less it  be  purely  for  truth's  sake  and  love's  sake. 

The  topical  method  of  treatment  has  been  chosen  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  chronological.  In  following  this  method  I  am  aware 
of  having  incurred  the  danger  of  undue  repetition.  But  this,  I 
hope,  has  been  guarded  against,  and  the  various  topics  permitted 
only  to  reappear  without  intruding.  To  touch  the  same  fact  or 
idea  in  different  connections  at  different  times  is  indeed  one  of 
the  best  ways  to  make  its  accpaintance. 

From  the  introduction  of  the  footnotes  that  cumber  so  many 
pages  I  would  willingly  have  been  excused.  More  than  once 
have  I  felt  inclined  to  throw  aside  all  these  digressions — "for 
what  is  a  footnote  but  a  digression?"  But  the  nature  of  the 
discussion  pleaded  for  them  with  much  show  of  reason;  and  so 
they  remain.  Let  them  serve,  more  or  less  satisfactorily,  as  au- 
thority for  views  presented  in  the  text,  as  confirmatory  (or  con- 
tradictory) views,  and  as  some  indication  of  the  literature  of  the 
subject. 

I  am  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  acknowledge  indebtedness  to 
several  honored  scholars  and  church  leaders  for  consenting  to 
criticise  my  manuscript  with  reference  to  the  history  or  the  pres- 
ent organization  of  the  churches  which  they  respectively  repre- 
sent— to  Dean  E.  I.  Bosworth,  of  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary ; 
President  E.  Y.  MulHns,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary;  Professor  Williston  Walker,  of  Yale  University; 
Professor  J.  W.  Richard,  of  the  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary 
(Gettysburg)  ;  Professor  W.  N.  Schwarze,  of  the  Moravian 
Theological  Seminary;  the  Rt.  Rev.  F.  F.  Reese,  of  Savannah, 
Ga. ;  Dr.  W.  L.  Watkinson,  ex-President  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Conference:  the  Rev.  J.  H.  McNeilly,  D.D.,  of  Nashville. 
Tenn. ;  and  Professor  Y.  Tanaka,  of  the  Kwansei  Gakuin,  Kobe, 


viii  Preface 

Japan.  The  courteous  kindness  with  which  the  requested  cor- 
rections and  suggestions  were  offered  has  made  even  my  sense 
of  obHgation  a  pleasure. 

If  the  reader  will  call  attention  to  any  errors,  whether  of  fact, 
inference,  or  emphasis,  which  I  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  cor- 
rect, it  will  be  a  truly  appreciated  service. 

Vanderbilt  Univ^ersity,  April  23,  1910. 


CONTENTS. 

Pack 

Introductory    xxm 

Part  I. 

BROTHERHOOD. 

I. 

The  Unifying  Truth  :  "One  Man  in  Christ  Jesus" 3 

Organization  as  Developed  Out  of  Brotherhood. 

1.  Christ  as  the  Unifying  Truth.  His  personality.  The  prophet- 
teacher,  the  holy  one,  the  Lord  of  the  conscience,  the  personal  ideal, 
the  Saviour. 

2.  The  Response  of  Love — in  Emotion,  Will,  Service. 

3.  But  Is  Not  Self-Love  a  Common  Motive  of  Church  Membership? 
Yes,  but  self-love  is  even  necessary  to  love  for  others.  Yet  the  con- 
scious seeking  of  one's  own  good  decreases. 

4.  Love  Amid  Its  Antagonists. 

IL 
Social  Dependence  :  Admission  into  Membership i? 

1.  Christianity  a  Social  Religion.  Contrast  with  pagan  cults.  Jesus' 
recognition  of  the  social  need  in  religion.     Sharing  the  new  life. 

2.  Social  Dependence  in  Worship  and  in  Work. 

3.  The  Church  Idea  in  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles.     A  Christian  life 

society. 

4.  Original  and  Later  Conditions  of  Membership.  In  apostolic  times. 
In  post-apostolic  times.     In  medieval  times. 

5.  Conditions  of  Membership  in  Protestant  Churches. 

IIL 

Social  Dependence  :   Discipline 3i 

Significance  of  Church  Membership. 

1.  Formative  Discipline — Personal,  Official. 

2.  Corrective  Discipline  in  the  New  Testament  Period— Personal, 
Official.  Jesus'  word  as  to  "binding"  and  "loosing."  The  case  in  the 
Corinthian  church.    Arbitration. 

3.  Corrective  Discipline  in  Post-Apostolic  Times.  Two  distinct 
grades  of  excommunication.  Relation  of  prophets,  martyrs,  bishops,  to 
the  restoration  of  the  lapsed.     The  penitents'  stations. 

4.  Corrective  Discipline  in  Medieval  Times.  The  confessional  and 
penance. 

5.  Indulgences. 

(ix) 


X  Contents 

IV. 

Pags 

Social  Dependence:  Discipline,  Organized  Fellowship 50 

Corporal  Punishments  for  Religious  Offenses. 

1.  Discipline  Emphasized  in  Protestant  Reformation,  and  Why. 

2.  Illustration  Found  in  the  Calvinian  Discipline,  in  Independency, 
and  in  Methodism.  May  the  class-meeting  test  of  church  member- 
ship be  justified? 

3.  Present-Day  Laxity  of  Discipline.  Need  of  administrative  fidelity, 
wisdom,  love.  Certain  embarrassing  limitations.  The  personal  the 
norm  of  the  official. 

4.  Positive  Provision  for  Fellowship  in  the  Church.  Social  sig- 
nificance of  the  Lord's  Supper,  of  the  primitive  love  feast,  of  the 
modern  class  meeting. 

The  Idea  of  Service  in  Fellowship. 

V. 

Individualism  :   Parish,  Monastery 64 

Social  Dependence  Not  Repression  but  Development  of  the  Indi- 
vidual. 

1.  Individualizing  Effects  of  the  Teaching  and  Personality  of  Jesus. 
Moral  love  as  an  element  of  personality. 

2.  Repression  of  the  Individual  in  the  Early  Church.  Due  to  im- 
perialism and  sacerdotalism. 

3.  Formation  of  the  Parish.  Original  and  subsequent  meanings  of 
the  word.  Mechanical  unification  of  the  Church  under  the  diocesan 
bishop. 

4.  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Monastery.  Its  rise  favored  by  the 
solidarity  of  the  parish.     Motives. 

5.  Social  Development  of  Monasticism.  Wherein  did  the  freedom 
of  the  monk  consist? 

6.  Regulation  and  Supervision  of  the  Monastery.  In  the  East — Basil 
the  Great.  In  the  West — Benedict.  Were  not  the  principles  of  free- 
dom and  individualism  violated?  Sacraments  and  ordinations  for  the 
monastery.     Relation  of  bishops  and  pope  to  the  monastery. 

7.  Monastic  Learning  and  Missionary  Zeal.  Rise  of  the  preaching 
friars.     The  highest  monastic  development  of  service. 

8.  Decline  of  Monasticism.     Its  errors  and  evils. 
Monasteries  of  To-Day. 

VI. 

Indwidualism  :  The  Protestant  Congregation 90 

The  Church  Promoting  or  Invading  Personality. 

1.  The  Reformation  Protest  against  the  Invasion  of  Personality. 
Representative  character  of  Martin  Luther's  experience. 

2.  The  Roman  Catholic  Reaction.  Due  to  passivity  and  timidity. 
Annihilation  of  the  individual  in  Jesuitism. 


Contents  xi 

Page 

3.  False  Security  against  the  Dangers  of  Individualism— Refusing 
to  Think. 

4.  The  Protestant  Solution  of  the  Problem  of  Social  Dependence 
and  Individualism.  Its  defects.  The  Puritan.  Luther's  method  com- 
pared with  that  of  Descartes. 

5.  Protestant  Authority  in  Teaching,  in  Government. 
Resume. 

Part  II. 

OFFICE. 
I. 

Officers  and  People:  The  New  Testament  Idea 109 

Inevitableness  of  Office-Making. 

1.  The  Beginning  in  Jerusalem  as  Shown  in  Acts.  Association,  or- 
ganization.   Presbyters  in  Asia  Minor. 

2.  Testimony  of  the  Earlier  Pauline  Epistles.  The  ministry  of  gifts 
included  two  kinds  of  service. 

3.  Testimony  of  the  Later  Pauline  Epistles.  Four  facts  made  clear: 
(i)  the  organization  was  gradual,  (2)  it  went  on  in  some  places  more 
slowly  than  in  others,  (3)  the  ministry  of  gifts  preceded  the  ministry 
of  orders,  (4)  the  ministry  of  orders  also  included  two  kinds  of 
service. 

4.  The  Relation  of  Officers  and  People  Embodied  Three  Main  Ideas: 
(i)  Representation— illustrated  in  messengers,  presbyters,  deacons, 
charisms,  sacraments.  (2)  Divine  appointment — shown  by  the  quali- 
fying gift  and  the  grace  of  love.     (3)  Service— a  universal  principle. 

Resume. 

n. 

Officers  and  People  :  Loss  and  Recovery  of  the  Idea , 130 

Review. 

1.  In  the  Sub- Apostolic  Age  the  New  Testament  Idea  Was  Still 
Followed. 

2.  Perversion  of  the  Ministry  into  a  Hierarchy.  The  causes:  (i) 
respect  for  authority,  (2)  form  of  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, (3)  wealth  of  church  officers,  (4)  civil  honors  and  privileges  be- 
stowed upon  church  officers,   (5)   monasticism,  (6)   sacerdotalism. 

3.  Differentiation  of  the  Terms  Clergy  and  Laity.  The  people  grad- 
ually subjected  to  the  clergy.  Illustrated  in  the  Church  of  Rome  to- 
day.   The  people  themselves  partly  to  blame. 

4.  This  Changed  Relation  of  Officers  and  People  Illustrated  in  the 
History  of  Ordination.    When  is  the  qualifying  gift  and  grace  received? 

5.  Some  Change  of  Organic  Form  Demanded.  But  the  actual  change 
a  corruption.  Its  negative  cause  the  loss  of  the  Spirit's  guidance. 
Difficulties  of  the  true  Christian  and  ministerial  life. 

Restoration  of  the  New  Testament  Order. 


xii  Contents 

Page 
III. 

Service  :    The   Deacon — His    Earlier    Office 148 

Restatement  of  Fundamental  Truths. 

1.  The  Most  Characteristic  Office  of  Early  Christianity.  The  ideal 
of  service  given  in  Jesus. 

2.  Beneficence  in  the  Apostolic  Age.  Shown  in  Jerusalem  and  else- 
where. Care  of  widowhood  illustrating  Christianity  and  common 
sense. 

3.  The  Church  Not  Distinctively  for  the  Relief  of  the  Poor.  Com- 
pare its  object  with  that  of  the  civil  government  and  the  school. 
Would  socialism  satisfy? 

4.  The  Rise  of  the  Deacon  Was  to  Have  Been  Expected.  Origin 
and  significance  of  the  technical  term.  Functions  not  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament.    The  Seven. 

5.  The  Diaconate  in  the  Post-Apostolic  Age.  Deacons'  functions 
barely  suggested.  Their  moral  and  spiritual  qualifications  compared 
with  those  of  the  presbyters. 

6.  Why  Such  Qualifications  for  an  Office  Conversant  about  Material 
Things?  Giving  a  "grace."  Avoidance  of  slander.  The  poor  "God's 
altar." 

7.  Through  Flesh  to  Spirit.     The  medical  missionary. 

IV. 
The  Deacon — His  Later  and  Present  Office 168 

The  Bishop's  Assistant. 

1.  This  Assistance  Was  Threefold:  (i)  in  ministration  to  the  poor, 
(2)  in  the  conduct  of  worship,  (3)  in  the  exercise  of  discipline. 

2.  Ere  Long  the  Deacon  Became  the  Bishop's  Adviser  and  Deputy. 
Rise  and  development  of  the  arch-diaconate.  The  diaconate  as  a  step- 
ping stone  to  the  presbyterate.  Decline  in  the  deacon's  share  in  dis- 
cipline and  ministration  to  the  poor.  So  by  the  year  500  the  diaconate 
was  a  greatly  changed  office. 

3.  In  the  Present  Age.  In  the  Roman  and  the  Eastern  Church.  In 
episcopally  governed  Protestant  Churches.  Partial  return  to  the  prim- 
itive type  in  certain  Protestant  Churches. 

4.  Extension  of  the  Diaconate  in  Two  Directions.  The  Sub-Deacon. 
The  Acolyte.  The  Exorcist — power  of  mind  over  body.  The  Reader — 
not  merely  a  reader.    Minor  and  Holy  Orders. 

V. 
Service  :  The  Deaconess 182 

Woman  as  a  Church  Officer. 

1.  Rise  of  the  Woman's  Diaconate.  Appears  first  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury.    Chiefly  an  Eastern  institution. 

2.  Deaconess  and  "Widow."    Their  similarities  and  differences. 


Contents  xiii 

Page 

3.  The  Primitive  Deaconess.  Duties,  age,  qualifications.  Decline 
and  discontinuance  of  the  office. 

4.  Revival  of  the  Idea  in  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  Origin  and  rules 
of  this  society.     Other  sisterhoods. 

5.  Revival  of  the  Idea  in  the  Modern  Deaconess.  "Sisters"  and  dea- 
conesses compared.  Foretokens  of  the  coming  deaconess — Independ- 
ents, Mennonites,  Puritans,  Wesley.     Fliedner  and  Kaiserwerth. 

6.  In  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  To-Day.  Estimate  of  the  modern 
woman's  diaconate  as  to  (i)  its  central  idea,  (2)  its  Scripture  prece- 
dents, (3)   its  economic  aim,   (4)   its  fruits. 

VI. 

Authoritative  Supervision:  The  Presbyter — His  Earlier  Office 203 

Oversight  a  Service. 

1.  Non-Official  Oversight  Concentrated  in  Individuals  and  Made 
Official.  Government  from  God,  and  exemplified  on  earth  and  in 
heaven. 

2.  The  Presbyterate  as  an  Extension  of  Parenthood.  Parenthood  a. 
type  of  the  Divine  government.  Whence  patriarchal  and  presbyteral 
government.     The  presbyteral  the  fatherly  authority  in  the  Church. 

3.  In  Israel.  Elders  of  Israel  m  the  Old  Testament,  the  inter- 
biblical,  and  the  Nevi^  Testament  period.  Their  office  not  that  of  the 
rulers  of  the  synagogue.     An  ecclesiastic  republicanism. 

4.  In  the  Christian  Churches.  The  presbyterate  passing  into  Chris- 
tian congregations,  Jewish,  Gentile.  Not  everywhere  prevalent  at  the 
first. 

VII. 

The  Presbyter  :  His  Later  and  Present  Office 214 

Office  Arising  Out  of  Need. 

Presbyteral  duties  in  the  apostolic  period.  Congregational,  not  inter- 
congregational. 

1.  Presbyters  as  Judges  and  Administrators.  The  Christian  as  com- 
pared with  the  Jewish  presbyterate.  Illustrated  by  difiference  in  the 
forms  of  worship  in  synagogue  and  church. 

2.  The  Presiding  Presbyter,  or  Bishop.  Concentration  of  functions. 
Restoration  of  functions  to  presbyter  under  diocesan  episcopacy.  Sig- 
nificance of  the  presidency  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Detachment  of  pres- 
bj'^ter  from  bishop's  council. 

3.  Presbyter  Perverted  into  Priest.  Hence  not  even  the  episcopate  a 
higher  "Order." 

4.  Development  of  the  Arch-Presbyterate.  In  the  city,  in  the  coun- 
try.    The  Methodist  presiding  eldership. 

5.  The  Scriptural  Presbyterate  in  Presbyterian  Churches  of  To-Day. 
Teaching  and  ruling  elders.  Need  of  such  a  system  as  set  forth  by 
Calvin — disorder  attending  the  Reformation.  In  other  than  Presby- 
terian Churches  the  eldership  for  the  most  part  a  purely  ministerial 
office. 


xiv  Contents 

VIII.  p^OB 

Unity  :  The  Bishop — Early  Development  of  His  Office 228 

Unity  a  Necessity  of  Philosophic  Thought.  Shown  in  all  Works 
and  Undertakings. 

1.  The  Principle  of  Unity  in  Societies — in  the  Church.  But  not 
notably  illustrated  in  the  New  Testament  churches.  Nor  in  sub-apos- 
tolic time.     The  plural  presbyterate  was  the  office  of  rule. 

2.  Beginnings  of  the  Single  Congregational  Episcopate.  Shown  by 
Justin  Martyr  and  "Sources  of  the  Apostolic  Canons." 

3.  Completer  Development  of  This  Episcopate.  Shown  by  Ignatius. 
Personality  of  Ignatius.  The  congregational  bishop,  or  pastor,  to  be 
clothed  with  autocratic  power.  But  it  was  in  principle  the  power  of 
government  for  which  Ignatius  contended.  A  distinction  must  be  made 
between  the  Ignatian  ideal  and  the  practice  of  the  churches.  Three 
stages  of  episcopal  development. 

4.  The  Irensean  Conception  of  the  Bishop's  Office.  The  bishops  the 
guarantors  of  apostolic  doctrine.  A  succession  of  bishops.  But  what 
if  they  should  make  mistakes? 

Comparison  of  Ignatius  and  Irenseus. 

IX. 
The  Bishop — Later  Development  of  His  Office 242 

1.  Peculiarities  of  the  Cyprianic  Episcopate.  Each  bishop  independ- 
ent. The  bishops  collectively  the  bond  of  union  for  the  universal 
Church.     What,  then,  is  the  Church? 

2.  Reconciliation  of  the  Two  Ideas  of  Episcopal  Independence  and 
Collectivism.     Analogue  in  modern  Congregationalism. 

3.  The  Bishop's  Office  an  Immediate  Gift  from  God.  The  bishop  a 
successor  of  the  Apostles  and  a  priest.    Hence  his  supreme  authority. 

4.  Estimate  of  the  Cyprianic  Episcopate.     Resume. 

5.  Rise  and  Development  of  Diocesan  Episcopacy:  (i)  Through  the 
outgrowth  and  the  presbyteral  oversight  of  new  congregations.  (2) 
Through  the  grouping  of  rural  congregations.  (3)  Through  the 
subordination  of  chapels  on  the  estates  of  landowners  to  the  bishop 
of  the  county  town.  (4)  Through  the  appointment  of  missionary 
bishops. 

6.  Ritual  Episcopal  Functions  :  Ordination — confirmation — consecra- 
tion of  church  edifices. 

The  Bishop  as  Magistrate,  Feudal  Lord,  Military  Leader. 

X. 

The  Bishop  :  Origin  of  His  Office 258 

Not  a  Mere  Historic  Question. 

I.  Theory  of  Elevation  from  the  Presbyterate.  Identity  of  presbyter 
and  bishop  in  the  New  Testament  and  in  subsequent  literature.     Chair- 


Contents  xv 

Page 

man  of  board  of  presbyter-bishops  becomes  preeminently  a  bishop 
(overseer).  Inherent  probability.  Supported  by  the  fact  that  after 
the  rise  of  the  single  episcopate  bishops  were  still  called  presbyters. 
Example  in  the  Alexandrian  Church  of  making  a  bishop  by  elevation 
from  the  presbyterate.     Different  dates  of  origin. 

2.  Theory  of  an  Original  Difference  between  the  Two  Offices. 
Argument  proband  con. 

3.  Theory  of  Origination  in  the  Administration  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Presbyters  simply  honored  old  men  of  the  community.  From  them 
the  bishop  was  chosen.    From  the  first  one  bishop  only. 

Criticism. 

4.  True  Significance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  Development  of  the 
Episcopate.  Presidency  at  the  Lord's  Supper  would  naturally  carry 
with  it  financial  and  disciplinary  duties. 

Theory  of  Apostolic  Succession. 


274 


XL 

Unity  :  Apostolic  Succession 

Two  Theories  of  Apostolic  Succession. 

1.  Its  History  in  the  Church  of  England.     Symbols,  true  and  false. 

2.  The  Scripture  Argument  pro  and  con. 

3.  Testimony  of  the  Sub-Apostolic  Age — for  example,  that  of  Ig- 
natius. Testimony  of  Irenseus  to  a  doctrinal  succession  from  the  Apos- 
tles. The  episcopal  office  antedated  the  successional  claim.  Illustrated 
by  history  of  divine  right  of  kings.  Cyprian  the  first  prominent  advo- 
cate of  the  theory  of  a  sacerdotal  succession. 

4.  Theories  to  Account  for  the  Silence  of  History  as  to  the  Single 
Episcopate  before  the  Time  of  Ignatius:  (1)  All  presbyters  were  em- 
powered to  ordain.  (2)  Some  one  member  of  a  board  of  presbyters 
was  empowered  to  ordain.  (3)  The  Apostles  ordained  itinerant  bish- 
ops, who  afterwards  located.     No  proof. 

5.  The  Successional  Sacerdotal  Episcopate  a  Roman  Idea.  Rome 
asked,  What  is  effective?    Evolution  of  the  papacy. 

The  Church  Imperialized. 

XII. 

Apostolic  Succession  :  The  Unreal  and  the  Real 293 

The  Most  Indubitable  Proof  Demanded.     Such  proof  impossible. 

1.  The  Supposed  Grace  Would  Have  Had  to  Be  Transmitted  through 
the  Hands  of  Many  Most  Wicked  and  Impure  Men.  Not  a  mere  case 
of  unworthy  officers. 

2.  A  Violation  of  the  Analogy  of  God's  Other  Ways  of  Helping 
Men  through  Their  Fellow-Men.  Human  influence  not  mechanical. 
High  Anglicanism  compared  at  this  point  with  Romanism.  Does  the 
Incarnation  yield  support  to  ritualism? 

3.  The  Testimony  of  Christian  and  Ministerial  Experience. 


xvi  Contents 

Page 

4.  The  Practical  Test.    May  covenanted  grace  lie  unused  in  the  soul? 
Summary. 

5.  The  Claim  of  Apostolicity  for  the  Two  Lower  Orders  in  the 
Ministry.  The  diaconate  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  priesthood  an  utter  perversion  of  the  New  Testament 
presbyterate. 

6.  The  Episcopate  as  a  Center  of  Unity.  Both  the  ancient  and  the 
modern  episcopate  such  a  center.  Might  some  non-episcopal  bond  of 
unity  have  served  the  purpose  better?  False  claims  on  the  part  of  the 
ruler  do  not  make  for  genuine  unity. 

7.  The  Real  Apostolic  Succession.  It  is  (i)  divine,  through  the 
direct  call  of  God,  (2)  ecclesiastical,  (3)  evangelical,  (4)  charis- 
matic, (5)  apostolic  in  teaching  and  spirit. 

This  Makes  for  Unity. 

XIII. 
The  Bishop — from  Diocesan  to  Pope 315 

1.  Origin  of  the  Metropolitan,  or  Archbishop.  Cyprian  as  an  Ex- 
ample. 

2.  Origin  of  the  Patriarchate.  Demand  for  unity  not  satisfied  by  the 
archbishopric.  Further  ecclesiastic  centralization  favored  by  the  ad- 
ministrative organization  of  the  civil  government. 

3.  Acknowledged  Preeminence  of  the  Roman  Patriarchate.  The 
bishop  of  Rome  acknowledged  as  chief  patriarch  for  the  following 
reasons:  (i)  the  political  supremacy  of  Rome,  (2)  the  supposed  apos- 
tolic origin  of  the  Roman  Church,  (3)  the  supposed  Petrine  origin  of 
the  see  of  Rome,  (4)  the  orthodoxy  of  Rome,  (5)  her  wealth  and 
beneficence.  TJiis  supremacy  of  honor  not  seriously  questioned.  Not 
only  individuals  but  also  General  Councils  favored  it. 

4.  The  Monarchical  Claim  of  Rome.  Growth  of  this  papal  idea  as 
represented  by  Victor,  Stephen  I.,  Siricius,  and  Innocent  I. 

5.  Yet  Leo  the  Great  May  Be  Called  the  Founder  of  the  Papacy. 
His  personality.  Four  examples  of  the  course  of  action  through  which 
Leo  sought  to  establish  the  papal  throne. 

6.  The  Ground  of  the  Papal  Claim  as  Compared  with  That  of  the 
Cyprianic  Claim. 

7.  The  Papacy  of  the  Middle  Ages  Pursued  the  Course  Marked  Out 
by  Leo.     Gregory  the  Great  and  John  the  Faster. 

8.  A  Reversal  of  the  Order  of  Historic  Facts.  Were  the  makers  of 
the  papacy  sincere? 

XIV. 

The  Bishop— the   Pap.\cv 333 

The  Claim  of  Roman  Constitutional  Supremacy  Was  Never  Ac- 
knowledged by  the  Church. 

I.  Constantinople,  Rejecting  Roman  Autocracy,  Took  Its  Position  of 


Contents  xvii 

Page 
Honor  with  Respect  to   the   Other  Eastern   Patriarchates.     Thus   the 
Catholic  Church  was  virtually  broken  in  twain. 

2.  Establishment  of  the  Papal  Claim  in  the  West.  Papal  Rome,  like 
Imperial  Rome,  had  the  gift  of  government ;  and  great  was  the  oppor- 
tunity in  the  West.  Thus  ecclesiastical  Rome  triumphed  over  the  con- 
querors of  imperial  Rome. 

3.  Shall  the  Medieval  Papacy  Be  Approved?  Not  a  question  of  ap- 
proving the  papal  frauds,  or  the  peculiar  papal  claim.s,  or  the  Divine 
overruling  of  an  evil  thing  unto  good  ends.  A  question  of  the  need- 
fulness of  an  authoritative  personal  head  of  the  Church  of  the  West 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  An  argumentative  illustration  from  modern 
times. 

4.  Two  Additional  Stages  of  Papal  Development:  (i)  Government 
of  the  nations  in  the  interest  of  the  Church;  (2)  doctrinal  and  ethical 
infallibility.  Through  what  organ  is  the  teaching  of  the  supposed  in- 
fallible Church  to  be  expressed?  The  decree  of  the  Vatican  Council. 
Inevitable  failure  of  the  papal  dream  of  unity.    Its  persistency. 

XV. 

Unity  :  The  Council 350 

The  Universal  Conciliar  Idea  and  Its  Element  of  Unity. 

1.  Councils  in  the  New  Testament.  When  differences  arose  in  the 
New  Testament  churches,  the  determinative  word  of  an  Apostle  was 
available.  Also  a  notable  council  in  Jerusalem.  In  what  sense  was  it 
universal?  In  what  sense  an  example  to  be  followed?  Various  New 
Testament  references  to  local  councils. 

2.  Early  Inter-Congregational  Councils.  In  the  second  century  "oc- 
casional"— with  reference  to  the  election  of  a  pastor,  to  Montanism,  to 
the  Easter  controversy.  In  the  third  century,  provincial  councils — for 
example,  those  with  reference  to  re-baptism. 

3.  These  Provincial  Councils  Were  Representative  Bodies  Composed 
Chiefly  of  Bishops,  but  Also  Including  Presbyters,  Deacons,  and  Lay- 
men. Their  decisions  not  authoritative.  They  defined  existing  cus- 
toms— for  example,  in  fixing  the  New  Testament  canon. 

4.  The  Ecumenical  Councils.  Would  these  ever  have  been  held 
without  the  alliance  of  Church  and  State?  The  imperial  purpose  in 
the  Council  of  Nice.  Official  position  and  personal  character  of  its 
members.  "Civil  war  in  the  Church  of  God."  Its  enactments  concern- 
ing three  great  causes  of  division. 

5.  Ecumenical  Councils  Subsequent  to  the  First.  In  all  Seven,  bish- 
ops only  could  vote.     Not  really  ecumenical.     What  is  yet  to  come? 

6.  Dependence  of  These  Councils  on  the  Emperor.  A  problem  of 
Providence.     Roman  councils  called  ecumenical. 

7.  Doctrinal  Authority  of  the  Ecumenical  Councils.  Doctrinal  de- 
cisions of  an  evangelical  council  to  be  judged  by  the  Scriptures.  Their 
principles  and  grades. 

A 


xviii  Contents 

Part  III. 
AUTONOMY. 

I.  Page 

The    Congregational    Idea 373 

Is  This  the  New  Testament  Idea  of  Organized  Christianity? 

1.  Original  Motive  of  the  Congregational  Churches.  Withdrawal 
from  the  English  Establishment.     Inter-congregational  fellowship. 

2.  English  Congregational  History.  Robert  Browne — Henry  Bar- 
rowe — John  Robinson.     Later  English  Congregationalism. 

3.  American  Congregational  History.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers — elder- 
ship, association  of  churches.  Countercurrents  represented  by  John 
Wise  and  Nathaniel  Emmons.     "The  National  Councils,"  1871. 

4.  Principles  and  Regulations  of  the  Congregational  Churches. 

5.  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Baptist  Churches.  In  Europe,  in  Amer- 
ica. Principles  and  regulations.  "Open  communion."  "The  Disciples 
of  Christ." 

6.  Estimate  of  the  Purely  Democratic  Theory  of  Church  Govern- 
ment. Commended  by  (i)  its  simplicity,  (2)  its  avoidance  of  the 
abuse  of  general  governmental  powers,  (3)  the  responsibility  which  it 
places  upon  church  members,  (4)  its  encouragement  of  the  sense  of 
Christ's  headship  of  the  congregation,  (5)  its  promotion  of  fellowship 
and  the  exercise  of  spiritual  gifts. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  misses  the  advantages  of  representative  gov- 
ernment, congregational  and  inter-congrcgational,  and  a  compact  gen- 
eral organization  under  personal  supervision  and  leadership. 

11. 

The   Conciliar   Idea 396 

Both  Self-Government  and  Government  by  Others  Are  Instinctive 
Faiths  and  Principles.  Sanctioned  by  the  New  Testament.  How  much 
of  each  is  the  question. 

Divine  source  of  government. 

Congregationalism  compared  with    Presbyterianism. 

1.  The  Calvinian  Polity.  Calvin's  reverence  for  law.  Outline  of 
polity  in  the  Institutes.  The  Genevan  Church :  its  governing  bodies, 
its  connection  with  the  State,  the  wide  extension  of  its  polity. 

2.  Forms  of  American  Presbyterian  Polity.  Why  the  governing 
bodies  are  called  courts.  The  three  fundamental  principles  of  church 
polity  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament. 

3.  Some  Significant  Presbyterian  Beliefs:  (i)  Identity  of  the  Church' 
in  all  Ages,  (2)  Infant  Church  Membership,  (3)  Church  Courts  in 
gradation,  (4)   Catholicity. 

4.  Estimate  of  the  Presbyteral  Polity.  Is  it  republicanism?  Its 
conservatism.  Its  adaptation  to  the  Reformation  period.  Present 
adaptation.     The  cost  of  its  advantages. 


Contents  xix 

III.  Page 

The  Episcopal  Idea  :  Prelatic,  Succession al 409 

All  Governmental  Authority  Vested  in  Bishops.  An  episcopal  of- 
fice a  natural  development.  Its  prototype  in  the  apostolate.  Analogy 
of  civil  government. 

1.  But  the  Apostolic  Idea  of  Superintendency  Differs  Essentially 
from  the  Sacerdotal  Idea  of  Prelacy.  The  Reformers  either  retained 
or  discontinued  the  episcopal  office,  as  they  deemed  expedient. 

2.  Some  Historic  Peculiarities  of  the  Church  of  England.  "No  bish- 
ops, no  king."  Present  position.  The  divine  right  of  bishops  not  the 
early  teaching  of  this  Church.  Seemingly  contrary  implication  in 
Preface  of  the  Ordinal. 

3.  Affinity  of  Apostolic  Succession  and  Sacerdotalism. 

4.  Forms  of  Anglican  Church  Government.  In  what  sense  is  it  a 
government  by  laymen  ? 

5.  Extension  of  the  Church  of  England  to  America.  No  bishop  in 
the  Colonies. 

6.  Organization  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

7.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  Compared  with  the  Anglican 
Church.  In  government,  in  attitude  toward  other  churches.  Its  forms 
of  government. 

8.  Institutionalism  in  These  Two  Churches. 

9.  Isolation  of  These  Two  Churches.  Tentative  movements  toward 
communion  with  Rome,  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church,  and  non-succes- 
sional  Protestant  churches. 

IV. 

The  Episcopal  Idea  :  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal 435 

The  Prelatic  Theory  Provides  for  Diocesan  Government  Only.  How 
then  shall  the  common  go\ernment  of  the  whole  Church  be  adminis- 
tered? by  an  elected  archbishop?  by  a  supreme  council? 

1.  Development  of  the  Patriarchal  Idea.  A  hierarchy,  patriarchs, 
the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  holding  a  primacy  of  honor.  But  va- 
rious national  churches  left  to  govern  themselves.  An  ecumenical 
council,  if  one  were  held,  would  wield  supreme  authority.  Is  the  gov- 
ernment that  of  an  oligarchy? 

2.  Orthodoxy  the  Chief  Note  of  the  Eastern  Church.  Futile  Roman 
cflForts  to  heal  the  schism.  Attitude  toward  other  churches.  Forms  of 
government  and  administration. 

3.  The  Imperial  Idea  as  Illustrated  in  the  Russo-Greek  Church. 
Conversion  of  Russia.  Still  lingering  paganism.  Establishment  of 
the  Russian  patriarchate. 

4.  Autocratic  Rule  of  the  Czar.  Abolition  of  tlx;  patriarchate  by 
Peter  the  Great.  The  theocratic  idea.  Opponents  of  the  Russian  au- 
tocracy. Forms  of  government,  administration  of  sacraments,  and  con- 
gregational worship. 


XX  Contents 

Pagb 

5.  The  Papal  Idea  That  of  a  Bishop  of  Bishops.  Absolute  power  of 
the  pope  as  legislator,  judge,  and  executive.  Claim  of  authority  over 
all  baptized  persons,  and  over  the  nations.  The  infallible  teacher. 
How  shall  the  pope  be  selected?    Forms  of  government. 

6.  The  Bishops'  and  the  Pope's  Order  That  of  Priesthood.  Indeed, 
the  pope  might  be  a  layman.  Celibacy  of  the  priest  a  great  adjunct  of 
the  papacy. 

7.  Audacity  of  the  Papal  Claim.  Psychological  origin  of  the  historic 
papacy. 

V. 

The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural,  Expedient — Earlier  Forms 462 

Is  the  Abuse  of  the  Episcopal  Office  Inseparable  from  Its  Use? 

1.  How  the  Episcopate  Arose  in  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 
The  fundamental  principle  was  congregationl.  But  in  Europe  an  epis- 
copate was  approved  as  expedient.  The  "episcopate  of  the  prince." 
The  Superintendent. 

2.  The  Organic  Development  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 
Compare  presidents  of  synods  and  conferences  with  bishops.  Forms 
of  government. 

3.  How  the  Episcopate  Arose  among  the  Bohemian  Brethren.  The 
extension  of  the  "Ancient  Church."  Period  of  the  "Hidden  Seed." 
Resuscitation  through  Count  Zinzendorf  and  Christian  David.  The 
episcopal  succession.  The  idea  of  "exclusive"  church  "settlements." 
Missionary  activity. 

4.  Earlier  and  Later  Moravian  Episcopal  Functions.  The  Provinces; 
the  Synods;  the  ministry  in  three  orders. 

VL 

The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural  and  Expedient — Later  Forms 478 

Origin  of  Methodist  Societies.  Movements  as  Dependent  upon 
Men. 

1.  Origin  of  the  Methodist  Itinerancj'-,  Class  Meeting,  Episcopacy, 
Conference.  The  conference  during  Wesley's  lifetime.  The  Legal 
Conference. 

2.  Growth  of  Methodist  Organization.  Early  relation  to  the  Church 
of  England.  Action  of  the  societies  after  Wesley's  death,  as  to  sac- 
raments and  superintendency.  How  may  the  present  government  of 
the  Wesleyans  be  classified?     Forms  of  government. 

3.  Other  Methodist  Episcopates. 

The  Superintendency  in  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada.  The  Presi- 
dency in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  The  Superintendency  in 
the  Methodist  Church  of  Japan. 

4.  Episcopacy  through  Evangelism. 

5.  Otterbein  and  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ.     Circumstances  ttn- 


Contents  ^^* 


Page 


der  which  they  became  a  separate  ecclesiastic  body  with  episcopal  su- 
pervision.   Forms  of  government  of  the  United  Brethren  m  Christ. 
Episcopacy  in  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church. 

VII. 

The  Episcopal  Idea  :  American  Episcopal  Methodism 493 

Development  of  British  and  American  Methodisms  compared. 
I    The  Connectional  Idea.     Wesley's  author.ty  supreme,  represented 
by  'a  general  assistant.  The  people  have  no  share  m  government.     A 

'T^'t::^n  of  the  Sacraments.  Ordmation  of  elders  in  Vi. 
ginia,  and  ks  discontinuance.  Solution  of  the  question  in  1874  by 
Wesley's  ordination  of  elders  and  a  general  superintendent.  The  or- 
ganizing of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

3  The  Development  of  Autonomy.  Why  Wesley's  office  could  not  be 
perpetuated  whole  and  entire.  The  Conference  took  his  place  even  be- 
fore his  death.     So  one's  work  passes  beyond  one  s  control. 

4  Further  Developments.     The  presiding  elders  oftce.     The  Quad 
rennial   General   Conference.     Organization  of  the   Church   completed 
in  the  institution  of  the  Delegated  General  Conference 

%  Later  Forms  of  Organization.  An  exclusively  ministerial  govern- 
ment May  it  be  justified  under  the  law  of  love?  Introduction  ot  the 
laitv  into  the  government  of  the  Church. 

6  The  Bishop's  Power.  Theoretically  open  to  serious  objection,  prac- 

ticallv  eflfective. 

7  Is  the  Episcopate  in  Methodism  an    Order.-'        ,     .       ^        . 

8  Episcopal  Limitations.  The  bishop  has  no  legislative  fiinction  no 
voice  L"  the  trial  of  ministers,  no  option  as  to  whom  he  shall  ordain. 
Coordination  and  world-wide  superintendency  of  '^:'.\''^^''^'..^_ 

0    Power  of  This   Polity.     Its  adaptiveness-ministenal  character 
utilization  of  lay  workers-unity-organized  aggressiveness. 

:o.  Perils.     Its  temptations  to  ambition-extreme  demand   for  w    - 
dom  in  bishops  and  presiding  elders-inevitable  breaking  up  of^  pas 
torates  that  might  well  have  been  continued-toleration  of  mefficient 
ministers— encouragement  of  restlessness. 

Change  for  the  Sake  of  Power. 

VIIL 

521 

The  Idea  OF  Divine  Right 

The  Question  Stated.    The  affirmative  answer.    Two  senses  m  which 
the  nhrase  "by  divine  right"  may  be  used.  rr\  tu^ 

T    The  Exegetic  Argtiment.     Inconclusive,  but  supported  by  (i)  the 
sense  o     feSlness  i^  that  which  is  accepted  -/-hangeably  fixe  . 
(.)  the  feeling  of  exultation  in  a  divinely  ordered  ^orm.   Q)^  f  ^'^ 
gencies  of  controversy,  (4)  the  practical  effectiveness  of  the  idea, 
effect  of  controversy. 


xxii  Contents 

Page 

2.  A  Priori  Considerations:  (i)  Would  so  important  a  matter  be 
left  indeterminate?  (2)  May  not  the  Church  of  the  Old  Covenant  be 
here  taken  as  a  prototype?  (3)  Are  not  doctrines  and  morals  author- 
itatively taught?  (4)  A  prescribed  form  necessary  to  good  govern- 
ment.    Counter  presumptions. 

3.  The  Congregational  Argument.  The  proposition.  The  proof  as 
to  (i)  discipline,  (2)  election  of  officers,  (3)  legislation.  Insistence 
that  New  Testament  precedents  are  here  universally  binding.  De- 
fects of  the  proof.  Present  position  of  Congregational  churches.  Con- 
gregationalism catholic,  not  sectarian. 

4.  The  Presbyterial  Argument.  Divergence  of  view  as  to  the  three 
divinely  revealed  laws.     The  proofs  and  their  defects.     Catholicity. 

5.  The  Prelatic  Argument.  Not  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  but  leans 
upon  ecclesiastical  history.  Exemplified  in  "The  Church  and  the  Min- 
istry."    Proofs  offered.     Practical  application  of  the  theory. 

6.  The  Papal  Argument.  The  final  appeal  to  the  pope.  But  the 
Protestant  final  appeal  is  to  the  Scriptures.  What  estimate  shall  we 
make  of  the  proofs  offered?  Similarity  in  the  claims  of  prelacy  and 
papac}'. 

7.  Conclusions.  Where  rests  the  responsibility?  Divine  right  of 
the  expedient. 

Not  Rights  but  Love  the  Upbuilder. 

CONCLUSION. 
The  Prophet  in  Administration 545 

1.  Formative  Ideas  in  Church  Organization.  Hence  the  need  of  spir- 
itual insight.  Prophetic  teaching  in  Israel;  in  the  apostolic  churches. 
Imposition  of  the  ecclesiastic  substitute  for  the  prophetic  ministry. 

2.  Protest  against  the  Suppression  of  Prophetic  Teaching.  Mon- 
tanism. 

3.  The  Christian  Prophet's  Gift  and  Messages.  Spiritual  insight 
compared  with  administration. 

4.  Faults  of  the  Prophet:  (i)  Clouded  vision,  (2)  unfaithfulness,  (3) 
failure  to  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  administration. 

5.  Faults  of  the  Administrator:  (i)  Resting  in  the  Church  as  an 
end,  (2)  satisfaction  with  external  success,  (3)  selfish  perversion  of 
office. 

6.  No  Conflict  between  Spiritual  Insight  and  Administration.  The 
real  need  is  their  combination  in  the  person  of  the  office-bearer.  Par- 
tial fulfillment  of  this  need  in  Israel;  in  apostolic  churches;  in  modem 
evangelic  churches. 

What  Would  Its  General  Fulfillment  Mean  to  the  Church? 


INTRODUCTORY. 

As  we  go  on  to  make  acquaintance  with  our  subject,  we  shall 
find  ourselves  looking  at  it  from  three  distinct  but  closely  related 
points  of  view — the  historic,  the  biblical,  the  formative. 

1.  The  main  lines  of  church  organization,  from  the  apostolic 
period  down  to  the  present  time,  will  have  to  be  taken  account  of. 
For  to  know  whence  a  thing  came  is  a  long  step  toward  finding 
out  what  it  is  and  what  it  stands  for.  ^^^ithout  the  hght  of  the 
past,  indeed,  the  bearings  of  many  a  present  fact  or  idea  would 
be  unintelligible.  Could  a  man  know  himself  with  no  book  of 
memory  in  which  to  read?  And  history  is  the  memory  of  an 
institution.     Therefore  we  need  to  take  the  historic  view-point. 

2.  But  the  pages  of  the  history  which  we  shall  have  to  follow 
will  lead  back  to  a  written  record  which  is  also  history  and  much 
more.  It  will  lead  back  to  the  Bible.  In  these  Scriptures  we 
shall  find  the  origin  of  Christianity,  and  hence  the  germs  of  its 
subsequent  organization.  We  shall  learn  something  of  the  mind 
of  its  Author.  We  shall  read  the  declaration,  broad  and  clear, 
of  its  Divine  purpose.  Therefore  it  is  needful  to  take  the  bib- 
lical view-point. 

But  in  connection  with  these  two  points  there  arises  a  not  un- 
common historic  difficulty.  The  sources  of  information,  it  will 
become  evident,  are  insufficient  for  an  unbroken  line  of  knowl- 
edge. The  comparatively  fev/  notices  of  church  organization  in 
the  New  Testament  are  not  in  every  instance  easy  of  interpre- 
tation. Then,  too,  with  the  close  of  the  New  Testament  record, 
there  begins  a  period  of  great  obscurity — the  ''tunnel"  period,  it 
has  been  called — which  continues  for  a  generation. 

True,  there  have  not  been  wanting,  especially  of  recent  years, 
able  explorers  in  this  field — or  this  church-history  "tunnel,"  with 
the  light  at  either  end  and  almost  nothing  but  darkness  within. 
But  when  the  witnesses,  after  more  or  less  independent  research, 
come  to  offer  testimony  and  conclusions,  they  agree  not  among 
themselves.     Hence,  uncertainty  in  the  mind  of  the  learner.    To 

(xxiii) 


xxiv  Introductory 

cite  one  prominent  instance,  who  can  be  sure  that  he  knows  the 
origin  of  the  single  episcopate?  Among  the  contending  guides, 
all  alert  and  apparently  competent,  the  ecclesiastic  tourist  is  liable 
to  some  bewilderment  as  to  whose  lead  he  would  best  follow. 

'Indeed,  he  will  be  tempted,  at  more  points  than  this  one,  to 
harbor  the  suspicion  that  the  unknown,  and  especially  the  un- 
knowable, may  be  the  occasion  of  much  controversial  speech. 
"Why,  that  question  admits  of  no  answer,"  said  the  cat  to  the 
owl,  in  their  fabled  colloquy.  "Of  course  not,"  replied  the  bird 
of  wisdom ;  "what  would  we  philosophers  have  to  do  if  the  ques- 
tion were  settled?"  As  with  tlie  philosophers,  so  sometimes 
with  their  friends  the  scholars  and  antiquarians.  After  all,  there- 
fore, it  behooves  the  common  man  to  depend  somewhat  on  his 
own  thinking  and  a  great  deal  on  his  own  common  sense.  He 
will  be  reminded,  moreover,  that  in  many  things  one  has  to  rest 
content  with  the  tantalizing  joy  of  questioning,  conjecture,  and 
research. 

It  would  be  unreasonable,  however,  to  complain  of  shadows 
that  are  by  no  means  peculiar  to  this  or  any  other  subject  of 
scholarly  investigation.  Still  more  unreasonable  would  it  be, 
through  either  love  or  fear  of  the  shadows,  to  imagine  them 
darker  than  they  actually  are.  Much  is  knowable.  Even  to 
those  of  us  who  must  remain  outside  the  charmed  circle  of  ex- 
pert research,  and  compare  the  conclusions  of  the  specialists  with 
our  own  scantier  and  less  immediate  knowledge,  a  fair  con- 
struction of  the  Church's  numerous  and  diverse  types  of  polity 
seems  quite  possible. 

3.  There  is  still  another  direction  which  any  seriously  inter- 
ested inquiry  into  our  subject  will  be  sure  to  take.  Examine 
even  a  machine,  utterly  helpless  and  "dead"  though  it  is  in  itself, 
and  you  will  find,  as  the  innermost  thing  which  it  contains,  an 
idea.  It  is  all  compact  of  thought.  No  matter  whether  it  be 
simple  or  elaborate  in  structure,  prehistoric  or  modern,  a  mor- 
tar-and-pestle  or  an  aeroplane,  to  search  out  the  embodied  thought 
is  essentially  to  know  the  machine.  And  shall  not  the  same  thing 
be  found  true  of  an  ecclesiastic  structure — of  any  form  of  polity 


Introductory  xxv 

and  government  built  round  religious  experiences,  ideas,  and  un- 
dertakings? If,  then,  as  Dr.  A.  M.  Fairbairn  has  recently 
phrased  it,  "every  question  in  polity  rests  on  a  prior  and  more 
radical  question  in  religion,"^  to  know  the  religion  is  to  touch 
the  heart  and  forecast  the  growth  of  the  polity. 

Therefore,  that  we  may  see  more  plainly  how  this  comes  to 
be,  let  us  take  the  fonnative  view-point. 

And  just  here  it  may  somewhat  clear  the  way  to  remember 
the  large  significance  of  the  familiar  word  "idea"  as  we  shall 
have  to  use  it  throughout.  It  means  a  truth  in  the  mind — a 
truth  as  api^rehended.  Our  idea  of  service,  unity,  authority,  or 
any  other  great  spiritual  truth,  is  that  truth,  or  Divine  idea,  so 
far  as  it  has  made  itself  known  to  us. 

But  something  more.  Such  an  apprehended  truth  is  a  force. 
That  is  to  say,  it  excites  motives  which  move  the  will  to  action. 
It  pulsates  with  energies,  like  a  seed  cast  into  the  ground :  "the 
seed  is  the  word  of  God."  Taken  into  heart  and. conscience,  it 
bears  the  fruit  of  well-doing.  Far  from  abiding  alone,  like  an 
idle  fancy  or  a  conception  in  pure  mathematics,  it  makes  for 
character  and  conduct.  For  instance,  let  a  Christian  congrega- 
tion take  in  the  idea  of  a  life  of  voluntary  service  to  men  in  the 
name  of  the  Son  of  Man,  let  them  lift  up  their  eyes  and  see  the 
little  world  of  their  own  neighborhood  or  the  larger  world  of 
mankind  as  their  Lord's  harvest  field  calling  for  reapers ;  and 
whatever  latent  love  for  souls  or  passion  for  the  glory  of  Christ 
may  be  in  them  will  be  quickened  into  activity.  Or,  let  them  have 
the  Pauline  vision  of  Christian  unity,  and  so  far  as  they  are  also 
possessed  of  the  Pauline  spirit  of  Christian  fidelity,  it  will  inspire 
them,  as  it  inspired  him,  to  give  diligence  to  "keep  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit,"  both  in  themselves  and  for  the  whole  Church,  "in 
the  bond  of  peace." 

So  likewise  with  all  the  ideas  that  enter  into  the  economy  and 
organization  of  the  Church.  Viewed  from  one  side,  they  stand 
for  truths.     Viewed  from  the  other  side,  they  stand  for  forces, 

'"Studies  in  Religion  and  Theologj,"  p.  5. 


xxvi  Introductory 

impulses,  motives,  aspirations,  emotions,  the  whole  inner  life  of  a 
Christian  congregation  as  it  comes  out  in  institutional  expression. 

Now,  then,  what  are  these  ideas  and  feelings?  how  have  they 
wrought?  and  what  are  the  particular  forms  in  which  they  have 
progressively  sought  embodiment?  These  are  things  which  we 
should  like  to  know. 

As  to  outward  forms,  one  has  to  bear  in  mind  that,  in  this 
as  well  as  in  every  other  sphere  of  observation,  they  are  subject 
to  ceaseless  change.  Much  as  we  sometimes  wish  to  keep  things 
just  as  they  are  in  our  natural  life,  for  example,  we  find  it  al- 
ways quite  impossible.  Our  friends  are  growing  older  every 
day — like  ourselves.  We  look  into  the  past  and  are  saddened  at 
the  changes  time  has  wrought.  In  nature  it  is  not  only  the  face 
of  the  sky  that  is  never  the  same  from  hour  to  hour.  Who  ever 
looked  upon  the  same  scene  twice?    Even 

The  hills  are  shadows  and  they  flow 
From  form  to  form,  and  nothing  stands. 

But  what  of  it  ?  The  world  within  the  world  does  not  change. 
The  laws  of  nature — chemical,  physical,  vital — which  are  the 
ever  active  will  of  the  Eternal,  whereby  crystals  are  builded,  and 
surfaces  colored,  and  fruit  ripens  on  its  stem,  and  the  earth  stead- 
ily keeps  its  orbit,  and  human  life  is  lived,  and  a  myriad  homes 
are  created — these  never  vary  and  never  pass  away.  That  is  an 
awful  journey  which  the  light  of  worlds  invisible  must  make 
before  it  may  paint  its  picture  upon  the  sensitized  plate  of  the 
photographer;  but  it  travels  in  the  same  way  as  the  light  of  the 
fire  in  your  grate,  and  in  the  same  way  as  the  light  which  fell 
upon  the  eyes  of  the  Hebrew  patriarch  when  Jehovah  "brought 
him  forth  abroad,  and  said,  Look  now  toward  heaven  and  tell 
the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to  tell  them."  Matter,  force,  law — these 
persist  through  the  ages ;  but  these  constitute  the  natural  world, 
whose  stability,  therefore,  is  no  less  noteworthy  a  truth  than  its 
unceasing  multitudinous  changes. 

And  this  inward  stability  of  the  natural  world  amid  all  its 
outward  instability  is  a  parable  of  the  organized  Church — or  to 


Introductory  xxvii 

use  the  more  significant  term,  of  Christianity  as  organized.  For 
here  too  the  forms  appear  and  disappear,  persist  and  variously 
change,  while  the  normative  truths  which  the  forms  live  upon 
and  represent  are  unchangeable.  These  are  Divine  ideas,  of 
which  even  more  truly  than  of  the  uniformities,  or  laws,  of 
nature,  it  may  be  said  that  amid  all  tlie  mutations  of  time  they 
are  the  same  and  their  years  do  not  fail.  Millenniums  hence 
they  will  greet  whatever  mind  may  choose  to  observe  them,  as 
fresh  and  fair  in  the  dew  of  their  youth  as  they  were  millen- 
niums ago.  There  may  be  such  a  thing  as  a  worn-out  institution, 
but  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  worn-out  truth. 

Subtlest  thought  shall  fail  and  learning  falter, 
Churches  change,  forms  perish,  come  and  go, 

But  our  human  needs  they  will  not  alter, 
Christ  no  other  age  shall  e'er  outgrow. 

Knighthood — to  take  the  first  example  that  offers — is  a  worn- 
out  institution.  Any  attempt  to  resuscitate  it  would  be  worse 
than  idle.  But  the  truth  of  it,  which  gives  its  story  whatever  of 
nobility  and  worth  it  may  possess  in  our  eyes,  has  not  been  lost. 
More  alive  than  ever,  it  is  operative  in  new  and  finer  forms.  The 
reverence  for  womanhood,  the  championship  of  the  distressed, 
the  defense  of  religion,  the  truth  of  Christ  and  the  cross,  which 
the  order  of  chivalry  represented  under  the  limitations  of  a  dark 
and  chaotic  time,  is  far  more  truly  embodied  in  the  Christian 
Missionary  Society  of  to-day  and  its  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Cross  going  forth  undaunted  in  all  the  world. 

Furthermore,  the  Christian  ideas  are  also  very  high  ideals. 
They  have  never  yet  come  near  being  fully  realized  in  the  or- 
ganization and  corporate  activities  of  any  church,  whether  of 
our  own  or  of  a  bygone  age.  This,  indeed,  is  what  might  have 
been  expected.  For  Christianity  is  equally  great  in  the  accom- 
plished facts  of  redemption  upon  which  it  rests,  and  in  the  spir- 
itual ideals  which  it  discloses :  "Be  ye  therefore  imitators  of  God 
as  beloved  children" — the  highest  possible  ideal — "and  walk  in 
love  even  as  Christ  also  loved  you,  and  gave  himself  up  for  us" 
— the  all-inclusive  redemptive  fact. 


xxviii  Introductory 

Take  again  as  an  example  such  an  organific  idea  as  service.  It 
is  ever  present  to  the  mind  of  any  faithful  church,  and  is  dis- 
tinctly embodied  in  office  and  administration.  But  where  is 
either  the  local  congregation  or  the  inter-congregational  Chris- 
tian communion,  whose  offices,  administration,  and  various  forms 
of  activity,  and  whose  spirit  of  service  expressing  itself  through 
them,  are  such  as  it  can  rest  in  and  say:  "I  am  rich  and  increased 
in  goods  and  have  need  of  nothing?"  The  most  faithful  church 
will  be  the  most  likely  to  confess  its  unprofitableness,  and  the 
wisest  the  most  likely  to  pray  for  increase  of  wisdom.  The  sig- 
nificance of  the  Young  People's  Societies,  the  Woman's  Mis- 
sionary Societies,  the  Medical  Missions,  the  Brotherhoods,  the 
Open  Churches,  the  Laymen's  Movement,  of  the  present  gener- 
ation, is  their  eloquent  attestation  of  a  striving  after  larger  serv- 
ice as  the  collective  Christian  aim. 

Or,  take  the  idea  of  unity.  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  has 
given  it  inimitable  expression :  "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism, one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all, 
and  in  all,  .  .  .  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  full-grown 
man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ." 
Let  the  world-wide  Church  give  it  expression  in  practice.  Let 
it  be  shown  in  inter-communion,  in  common  counsel,  in  coopera- 
tive activity,  in  whatever  governmental  forms  may  be  effectual. 
Less  than  this  we  can  hardly  believe  to  be  a  fitting  fulfillment 
of  the  mind  of  Christ  and  the  word  of  his  Apostle.  But  such 
unity  has  been,  through  the  long  centuries,  only  a  vision.  Will 
it  ever  become  a  fact  ?  At  any  rate,  it  is  even  now  an  illumining 
vision ;  and  every  faithful  congregation,  living  in  the  light  of  it, 
is  doing  something,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  toward  its  real- 
ization. Let  the  churches  acknowledge  their  sins  against  the 
spiritual  oneness  of  the  Church,  which  sins  are  the  chief  schis- 
matics :  still  the  ideal  abides,  and  not  in  vain.  The  Federal  Coun- 
cil of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  is  one  of  its  most  re- 
cent witnesses. 

Therefore  it  is  here,  in  "those  things  which  are  not  shaken," 


Introductory  xxix 

even  in  imperishable  formative  truths,  that  the  interest  of  our 
theme  centers  and  our  faith  in  Christianity  as  visible  and  organ- 
ized securely  rests. 

Such,  then,  are  the  three  points  of  view  from  which  the  ways 
of  church  organization,  if  any  approach  to  a  satisfactory  knowl- 
edge of  it  is  to  be  made,  must  be  studied. 

It  may  also  be  well,  in  the  way  of  introduction,  to  make  men- 
tion of  certain  determinative  beliefs  which  will  appear  all  through 
the  chapters  that  follow : 

1.  A  church  is  not  essentially  an  organized  body,  but  a  simple 
brotherhood  of  Christians,  no  matter  how  few  in  number,  who 
assemble  together  in  the  name  of  Christ  for  worship  and  service. 

2.  Under  all  ordinary  circumstances,  such  a  brotherhood  will, 
as  a  matter  of  practical  necessity,  not  only  observe  order  in  its 
assemblies  but  also  develop  some  official  organization. 

3.  The  universal  Church  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  the  aggre- 
gate of  such  assembling  brotherhoods,  with  no  necessary  refer- 
ence to  organization. 

4.  The  organizing  purpose  of  Christianity  is  to  promote  the 
coming  of  the  heavenly  Father's  kingdom. 

5.  Being  a  communion  of  Christians  pledged  to  promote  the 
coming  of  the  Kingdom,  a  church  is  to  be  organized  as  a  body, 
throughout,  ministers  and  people  alike,  for  active  and  continual 
service.^ 

6.  The  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  both  preceptive  and 
historical,  concerning  church  government,  is  to  be  reverently  fol- 
lowed. 

7.  The  New  Testament  does,  with  abundant  illustration,  teach 
those  ideas  of  fellowship  in  Christ,  social  dependence,  individ- 
ualism. Divine  vocation  and  appointment,  representation,  service, 
authority  and  obedience,  unity,  autonomy,  evangelism,  which,  as 
various  expressions  of  the  all-inclusive  principles  of  righteousness 

^For  a  somewhat  fuller  exposition  of  the  foregoing  principles  than  is 
given  in  this  book,  see  "The  Idea  of  the  Church,"  pp.  3- 118. 


XXX 


Introductory^ 


and  love,  must  forever  be  embodied  in  the  constitution  and  work- 
ing economy  of  Christian  churches. 

8.  The  New  Testament  does  not,  either  directly  or  through 
reasonable  inference,  teach  that  a  certain  designated  form  of 
government  has  been  prescribed  for  the  universal  Church  of  God 
throughout  the  ages,  but  leaves  the  whole  matter  of  ecclesias- 
tical organization  to  be  planned  as  well  as  administered  by  the 
Christian  people  themselves — the  absence  of  a  fixed  and  com- 
pulsory polity,  as  of  a  fixed  and  compulsory  ritual,  being  an  ele- 
ment of  the  universalism  of  Christianity. 

9.  The  Spirit  of  truth,  ever  abiding  in  the  brotherhood  of 
Jesus'  disciples,  illumining  his  words  and  imparting  grace  to  do 
the  will  of  the  heavenly  Father,  is  to  be  trusted  as  the  supreme 
Teacher  and  Leader,  in  matters  not  only  of  doctrine,  w^orship, 
and  personal  conduct,  but  also  of  method  and  organization. 

These  beliefs,  then,  if  we  shall  see  good  reason  to  hold  them, 
may  serve  as  guiding  principles  in  our  field  of  ecclesiologic  in- 
quiry. 

The  dates  of  the  early  Christian  documents,  both  biblical  and 
post-biblical,  are,  in  a  number  of  instances,  still  matters  of  con- 
troversy. The  following  have  been  accepted,  in  the  present 
study,  as  approximately  correct.  Of  the  New  Testament  books : 
Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  the  Corinthians,  and  the  Gala- 
tians,  53-58;  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  55-58;  Epistles  to  the 
Philippians  and  the  Ephesians,  59-66;  Epistle  of  James,  62 
(  ?)  ;  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  65,  66;  Gospels  of  Matthew  and 
Mark,  66-68 ;  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  to  Titus,  64-68 ;  Hebrews, 
67 ;  Gospel  of  Luke,  75-80 ;  Acts,  80-85 ;  Gospel  and  Epistles  of 
John,  90-95. 

Of  Patristic  literature :  Epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome,  toward 
the  close  of  the  first  century ;  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius,  first  quar-^ 
ter  of  second  century;  the  Didache,  the  Pastor  of  Hennas,  Justin 
Martyr's  First  Apology  and  the  Epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Phi- 
lippians, about  the  middle  of  the  second  century;  Sources  of  the 
Apostolic  Canons,  140-180;  Irenjeus,  Against  Heresies,  last  quar- 


Introductory  xxxi 

ter  of  second  century;  Terttillian's  Works,  second  and  third  cen- 
turies; the  Clementines,  first  half  of  third  century;  Canons  of 
Hippolytus,  235-258;  Origen,  Against  Cclsiis  and  the  Epistles 
and  Treatises  of  Cyprian,  the  middle  of  the  third  century ;  Euse- 
bius,  Ecc.  Hist.,  first  quarter  of  fourth  century;  Epistles  and 
Sermons  of  Leo  the  Great,  middle  of  fourth  century;  Apostolic 
Constitutions,  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  (with  later  addi- 
tions) ;  Epistles  and  Treatises  of  Jerome,  fourth  and  fifth  cen- 
turies; Epistles  of  Gregory  the  Great,  near  the  close  of  the  sixth 
century. 

Now  the  divergences  of  scholarly  opinion  as  to  the  dates  of 
these  sources  and  authorities  is  not  to  be  lightly  treated.  But 
neither  should  its  importance  for  the  question  of  church  organ- 
ization be  overestimated.  And  this  may  easily  be  done.  Be- 
cause the  case  is  one  in  which  the  significance  of  the  facts  is 
really  but  little  affected  by  a  difference  in  the  chronological  views. 
The  critic — to  take  an  extreme  example — who  will  not  allow 
the  Pastoral  Epistles  to  be  any  proper  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  assigns  to  them,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  very 
latest  date  that  has  been  conjectured,  will  entertain  no  doubt 
that  the  forms  of  organization  to  which  these  books  refer  did 
exist  when  the  books  were  written.  He  will  also  have  no  doubt 
that  it  had  existed  for  a  longer  or  a  shorter  period  theretofore. 
And  as  to  how  long  a  period  it  had  thus  existed,  he  must  accept 
the  testimony  of  the  books  themselves,  unless  there  be  found 
some  conclusive  reason  to  the  contrary.  At  most,  as  Principal 
T.  M.  Lindsay  has  expressed  it,  "the  matter  involved  does  not 
concern  a  general  conception  of  ecclesiastical  organization,  but 
whether  a  certain  stage  of  development,  which  did  exist  some- 
time, was  of  an  earlier  or  a  later  appearance — a  question  which, 
when  we  consider  the  utmost  limits  of  time  involved,  is  com- 
paratively unimportant."^ 

^"The  Church  and  the  Ministry  in  the  Early  Centuries,"  p.  138. 


Part  I. 

BROTHERHOOD. 


(I) 


0  Cross  that  liftest  up  my  head, 
I  dare  not  ask  to  fly  from  thee : 

1  lay  in  dust  life's  glory  dead, 

And  from  the  ground  there  blossoms  red 
Life  that  shall  endless  be. 

— George  Matheson. 

The  Church  is  spiritual  life — the  life  o.f  individual  souls — organized,  knitted 
together  in  organic  forms  for  ends  of  worship  and  service. — W.  H.  Fitchett. 

When  the  Church  takes  upon  itself  to  see  to  the  salvation  of  my  soul,  it 
has  done  its  best  to  ruin  me  for  time  and  eternity. — W.  L.  Watkinson. 

This  man  is  freed  from  servile  bands 

Of  hope  to  rise  or  fear  to  fall — 
Lord  of  himself,  though  not  of  lands ; 

And  having  nothing  yet  hath  all. 

— Sir  Henry  IVotton. 

So  that  each  one  of  us  stands  before- Thee  as  an  only  child. — William  J. 
Young. 

(2) 


THE  UNIFYING  TRUTH:  "ONE  MAN  IN  CHRIST 

lESUSr 

Brotherhood  and  organization,  though  somewhat  near  akin, 
are  not  always  found  together.  They  do  not  imply  each  other. 
On  the  one  hand,  there  may  be  an  unorganized  brotherhood.  For 
all  like-minded  people  will  become  aware  that  they  are  fellows, 
and  so,  without  a  dream  of  organizing  themselves,  will  be  drawn 
into  some  form  of  actual  and  outward  fellowship.  Thus  arise 
groups  of  friends,  "hordes"  of  savages,  circles  of  society,  cliques, 
"gangs"  of  boys,  and  other  more  or  less  worthy  and  noteworthy 
fraternities.  It  is  true  that  in  all  these  cases  there  may  be  sup- 
posed to  exist  a  latent  tendency  to  organize.  But  the  tendency 
may  fail  to  become  operative,  and  so  the  brotherhood  remain  a 
brotherhood  only. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  may  be  a  non-fraternal  organization. 
This  will  appear  when  men  unite  as  coworkers,  under  the  princi- 
ple of  the  division  of  labor,  through  purely  self-regarding  mo- 
tives. It  may  be,  for  example,  the  case  of  a  business  partner- 
ship. ,  Or  it  may  be  that  of  an  employer  with  a  number  of  em- 
ployees, each  discharging  his  particular  and  appointed  function, 
in  the  various  processes  of  some  mercantile  or  productive  indus- 
try. It  is  quite  ix)ssible  for  such  men  to  work  side  by  side  for 
one-third  of  their  time,  and  yet  be  actuated  by  a  brotherly  spirit 
little  more  than  are  the  papers  they  sign,  the  tools  they  handle, 
or  the  machinery  they  manage. 

But  the  higher  type  of  organization  is  that  which  is  developed 
out  of  brotherhood.  It  is  an  inner  life  and  fellow-feeling  finding 
organs  of  activity — then  regularly  and  variously  at  work  for 
some  common  purpose.  And  here  the  preeminent  example  is 
that  institutional  representative  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
the  Church  of  Christ.  A  church  in  the  New  Testament  time  was, 
first  of  all,  a  simple  Christian  brotherhood,  which  afterwards, 

(3) 


4  Christianity  as  Organised 

through  the  necessities  of  its  own  urgent  outreaching  life,  be- 
came an  organization.  In  fact,  it  became  an  organization  very- 
soon — ahnost  from  tlie  beginning.  And  such  will  be  the  way 
of  Christianity  always  and  everywhere.  A  Christian  church 
takes  form  not  as  a  mere  brotherhood,  and  still  less  as  a  mere 
organization.    It  appears  as  a  brotherhood  organised.^ 

r.  Christ  as  the  Unifying  Truth. 

This  brotherhood  as  organized  is  our  subject  of  study.  Let 
us  begin  with  an  inquiry  as  to  the  unifying  truth,  the  creative 
idea,  the  formative  force — all  these  being  different  names  for 
the  same  thing — that  brings  people  together  into  a  church  and 
organizes  that  church  for  growth  and  usefulness  in  the  world. 
For  some  such  unifying  truth  there  must  be.  Just  as  a  tree  of 
the  forest  grows  up  and  lives  its  life  about  a  certain  divine  idea, 
enshrining  a  divine  purpose,  so  is  it  with  human  society,  and  so 
very  manifestly  with  the  Church  of  God.  The  tree  of  course 
does  all  this  unconsciously — the  consciousness  being  solely  in 
Him  who  is  making  the  tree.  But  in  the  case  of  social  organi- 
zation, this  idea  and  purpose  is  to  be  shared  by  the  society  itself, 
and  to  be  consciously  its  bond  of  union.-  ]\Ien,  in  their  freedom, 
are  thus  to  be-come  workers  together  with  God  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  his  purpose.  \\'hat,  therefore,  in  the  case  of  the  Church, 
may  we  recognize  as  this  conscious  bond  of  union  ? 

The  answer  is  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  divine  idea  and  purpose 
that  men  should  be  made  Christlike,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing, 
that  they  should  become  in  spirit  and  character  sons  of  God. 
For  this,  accordingly,  God  sent  redemption  into  the  world,  that 
all  who  would  might  be  "conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son." 
How?  Through  the  knowledge  of  him,  through  faith  in  him, 
through  communion  with  him,  through  obedience  to  him,  who 
is  himself  the  image  of  the  invisible  God.  In  a  word,  through 
Christianity. 

And,  moreover,  as  men,  believing  in  Christ,  become  responsive 

*"The  Idea  of  the  Church,"  pp.  51,  52;  95  ff- 


The   Unifying   Truth  5 

to  his  transforming  power,  they  come  into  spiritual  unity  with 
one  another.  For  they  become  sharers  of  the  one  mind  that  was 
in  him,  and  take  up  their  several  interrelated  tasks  in  the  doing 
of  the  one  work  which  he  has  commanded.  Christ  who  is  "all" 
is  also  "in  all."  Such  is  the  origin  of  the  Church ;  and  such, 
nothing  less  and  nothing  other,  is  the  unity  of  the  Church. 

Now  the  extraordinary  influence  of  the  personality  of  Christ 
upon  the  men  and  women  who  first  became  his  disciples  is  un- 
questionable. It  woke  such  a  response  as  -human  hearts  had  no- 
where made  before.  It  was  a  compelling  and  a  cumulative  power. 
Cumulative  not  only  as  long  as  he  was  visibly  with  them ;  for 
after  his  going  away  he  came  to  them  again,  in  closer  relation- 
ship, even  in  the  Spirit,  and  gained  the  completer  mastery  of 
their  lives. 

What,  then,  was  the  vision  of  the  Divine  One — for  surely  we 
shall  find  it  to  be  nothing  less — which,  when  these  persons  saw 
it  in  Jesus,  made  them  not  only  his  individual  followers  but  also, 
and  very  manifestly,  his  congregation?  It  is  altogether  unlikely 
that  they  attempted,  after  any  theological  manner,  to  analyze  his 
character  or  number  his  "offices"  or  reason  out  to  a  satisfactory 
conclusion  the  truth  of  his  nature.  That  came  some  generations 
later.  Do  we  occupy  our  minds  with  a  systematic  attempt  to 
analyze  the  nature  and  endowments  of  the  man  who  is  making 
himself  our  friend?  We  only  know  and  feel  the  new  personality 
that  enters  with  a  certain  peaceful  constraining  power  into  our 
lives.  Much  more  may  we  believe  this  to  have  been  true  of  the 
first  disciples  and  friends  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  was  to  them 
more  and  more  a  presence,  a  personality,  known  by  its  effects  in 
their  innermost  being,  as  if  it  were  life  itself.  Indeed,  he  was 
the  Life,  and  was  continually  giving  himself,  giving  them  of  his 
owai — "that  they  might  have  it  very  abundantly." 

Yet  it  is  no  less  than  the  duty  of  thoughtful  Christian  love  to 
make  answer  to  the  Master's  own  question :  "Who  say  ye  that  I 
am  ?"  What  was  it  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  that,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment time,  drew  men  to  him  as  his  disciples  and  congregations? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  men  were  not  drawn  to  him.     Many 


6  Christianity  as  Organized 

were  not.  Some  utterly  rejected  the  claim  that  he  put  forth,  and 
had  him  condemned  to  the  death  of  the  cross.  Even  after  the 
Resurrection  and  Pentecost,  some,  so  far  from  acknowledging 
the  Master,  persecuted  his  disciples  unto  prison  and  unto  death. 
Very  many  more  seem  to  have  passed  him  by  in  a  spirit  of  in- 
difiference.  As  it  is  in  the  twentieth  century,  so  was  it  in  the  first : 
"My  sheep  hear  my  voice."  What  then  was  the  attractive  power 
which  won  those  who  did  yield  allegiance  to  Jesus  and  form  a 
Christian  brotherhood  about  him? 

That  attraction  was  the  awakening  of  the  sense  of  spiritual 
needs  and  possibilities,  and  the  satisfaction  that  such  a  hunger 
of  the  spirit  received  from  him.  It  was  said  of  the  poet-philos- 
opher Coleridge  by  one  of  his  friends :  "He  wanted  better  bread 
than  can  be  made  of  wheat."  So  does  every  man;  but  especially 
so  does  the  man  in  whom  hunger  of  the  spirit,  which  is  his 
deepest  self,  is  awakened.  But  nowhere  else  does  this  cry  of 
want  find  the  answer  which  it  has  found  in  Jesus,  the  very  Bread 
of  God.  Those  upon  whom  that  offer  had  power,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  gospel,  came  to  him,  gave  him  their  hearts,  obeyed 
his  words. 

For  one  thing,  they  beheld  in  him,  as  it  had  never  appeared 
to  them  before,  the  revelation  of  spiritual  truth.  "Rabbi,  we 
know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God ;  foT  no  man  can 
do  these  signs  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him."' 
But  for  stronger  reasons  also  than  the  marvelous  physical 
signs  that  thus  impressed  Nicodemus,  Jesus  was  recognized  as 
"a  teacher  come  from'  God."  That  is  to  say,  the  teaching  it- 
self was  a  greater  "sign."  It  stirred  the  deepest  intuitions  of  the 
religious  nature,  broke  the  slumber  of  the  soul,  searched  the  con- 
science, opened  up  the  realm  of  spiritual  reality,  as  this  had  not 
been  done  by  the  wisest  and  best  who  had  gone  before.  They, 
indeed,  as  prophets  of  Jehovah,  received  messages  from  on  high 
for  Israel;  but  he  dwelt  perpetually  in  the  light  of  God's  eternal 
love,  vv^ithout  a  cloud  between,  and  out  of  the  revelations  of 

^John  iii.  2. 


The    Unifying   Truth  7 

that  Presence  taught  the  people.  "The  words  that  I  say  unto 
you  I  speak  not  from  myself,  but  the  Father  abiding-  in  me 
doeth  his  works" — the  words  of  Jesus,  which  were  the  ivorks  of 
the  Father,  And  a  still  greater  sign — though  one  that  should 
be  much  "spoken  against'' — was  the  prophet-teacher  himself. 
He  not  only  revealed  the  truth — peerless  and  priceless  as  were  his 
utterances :  he  himself  was  the  revelation.  For  that  which  he 
spoke  he  was.  By  continual  self-expression,  in  word  and  look 
and  deed,  he  showed  himself  to  be  the  very  Truth  and  Wisdom 
of  God.  It  was  not  as  if  a  torchbearer  came  uplifting  a  torch; 
the  light  shone  from  within,  from  the  Man.  "as  the  sun  shineth 
in  his  strength."  "The  Word  became  flesh."  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  those  who  were  "of  the  truth"  should  be  attracted  to  him 
and  consent  to  group  themselves  about  him  as  a  company  of 
learners?    "One  is  your  teacher,  and  all  ye  are  brethren."'' 

But  to  say  that  Jesus  was  the  highest  truth  incarnate  is  only 
another  way  of  confessing  his  perfect  rightness  of  nature.  Men 
who  had  eyes  to  see  did  see  in  him  the  Dimne  holiness.  It  was 
not  simply  that  he  could  challenge  opponents  to  break  the  force 
of  his  teaching  or  of  his  personal  claim  by  pointing  out  any 
moral  obliquity  in  his  life:  "Which  of  you  convicteth  me  of 
sin?"'  That  were  a  comparatively  little  thing.  The  great 
fact  is  that  the  self-consciousness  of  Jesus,  as  expressed  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  recorded  history,  was  the  consciousness 
of  entire  oneness  with  the  Father.  A  petition  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  trespasses,  such  as  he  taught  the  disciples  to  offer  when 
they  prayed,  wo^lld  not  only  be  unthinkable  on  his  lips  now  by 
those  who  believe  upon  him,  but  it  must  have  been  so  then. 

Simon  Peter  often  six>ke  in  a  truly  representative  character, 
but  never  more  so,  we  may  believe,  than  when  he  cried :  "Depart 
from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."*  It  was  personal 
unworthiness  bearing  witness  to  the  Worthy  One,  the  sense  of 
sin  becoming  intolerable  in  the  presence  of  the  visualized  holi- 
ness of  God. 

^Matt.  xxiii.  8-10.        *John  viii.  46.        'Luke  v.  8. 


8  Christianity  as  Organised 

Not  only  so.  Alen  of  faith  found  in  Jesus  the  mastership  of 
the  spirit.  For  holiness  is  power.  It  is  the  moral  law  person- 
alized. The  sinner,  even  though  resisting  its  claim,  stands  in 
awe  of  it,  acknowledging  its  sovereign  right  to  obedience.  It  is 
a  celestial  vision  that  must  speak  in  imperatives.  And  the  human 
soul  needs  such  an  imperative.  It  needs  to  say  *'Lord,"  and  in- 
stinctively feels  after  some  one  greater  than  itself  whom  it  may 
reverence,  trust,  honor,  follow,  obey.  So  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
finding  the  very  sovereignty  of  the  spirit  in  him,  called  him  not 
only  teacher  but  Lord.  It  was  his  to  command,  theirs  to  obey. 
Gentle,  sympathetic,  considerate,  ministrant,  declaring  on  the 
night  O'f  his  betrayal,  "No  longer  do  I  call  you  servants,  .  .  . 
but  I  have  called  you  friends,"^  yet  the  sovereign  of  the  soul, 
whose  word  was  laAV.  "Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  the  things 
zvhich  I  commiand  yon."  "Ye  call  me  Master  [Teacher]  and 
Lord;  and  ye  say  well,  for  so  I  am."^  To  them,  therefore,  as 
to  those  who  learned  his  name  afterwards  through  the  gospel 
and  the  interpreting  Spirit,  Jesus  was  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  well  might  the  willing  ser\^ants  of  the  one  Master,  uniting 
to  keep  his  commandments,  form  a  household  about  him. 

Moreover,  such  a  Master,  exemplifying  in  daily  life  all  grace 
and  truth,  would  become  their  spiritual  Ideal.  Did  he  not  dis- 
tinctly offer  himself  as  an  example  to  be  followed  by  them  all? 
"Even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to 
minister."^  "For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye  also 
should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you."*  To  become  Christlike, 
changed  into  the  spiritual  splendor  of  his  image,  was  unques- 
tionably the  Christian  ideal.  The  uttermost  self-sacrifice  must 
be  accepted  by  the  disciples  of  him  who  went  in  unspeakable  suf- 
fering, but  with  undeviating  footstep,  to  the  death  o-f  the  cross. 
"Hereby  know  we  love,  because  he  laid  down  his  life  for  us; 
and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren."^  Nor  can 
they  picture  to  themselves  any  happier  immortality  than  to  be 

*John  XV.  15.     ^John  xiii.  13.     ^Matt.  xx.  28.     ''John  xiii.  15.     "i  John  iii*.  16. 


The    Unifying    Truth  9 

gathered  into  his  everlasting  kingdom  as  sons  of  God,  and  seeing 
him  as  he  is,  to  become  like  him/ 

But  this  was  not  all.  The  crowning  glory  of  Jesus  was  his 
atoning  Iotc.  He  was  the  Lord  Jesus.  Whatever  of  victory  or 
deliverance  could  have  been  signified  by  such  a  name,  through  all 
the  momentous  history  of  ancient  Israel,  was  fulfilled  far  be- 
yond the  most  daring  dream  of  parent  or  prophet,  by  him  who 
bore  that  saving  name  from  Bethlehem  to  Calvary  and  on  into 
the  world  of  the  Resurrection.  His  victory  was  victory  over 
death.  His  deliverance  was  deliverance  from  the  awful  tyranny 
and  doom  of  sin.  "Who  was  made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God, 
and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption."^ 

It  was  other  truths  than  this,  indeed,  that  first  made  the  Twelve 
his  disciples ;  because  at  the  beginning  this  truth  was  undiscov- 
ered by  them.  Not  that  his  love  was  undiscovered  by  them;  for 
how  could  such  love  and  sympathy  as  thrilled  through  the  life  of 
Jesus  fail  of  some  conquering  effect  upon  even  the  least  respon- 
sive heart?  ''Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with  him."  But 
it  was  the  truth  of  atoning  love  as  enthroned  forever  in  his  cross 
and  resurrection  that,  under  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit,  won 
them  to  the  deeper  discipleship  and  the  immortal  hopes  of  their 
after  life.  Now  they  could  rejoice  to  be  "counted  worthy  to 
suffer  dishonor  for  the  Name."  Now  they  could  pass  through 
death  to  the  Risen  One,  to  be  with  him  again  and  evermore. 
Now  the  cross,  which  had  once  tended  to  divide  and  scatter — 
"every  man  to  his  own" — was  drawing  them  into  real  communion 
with  himself  and  with  one  another.  No  wonder  if  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  or  on  any  other  day,  the  followers  of  their  glorified 
Master  should  be  found  "all  together  in  one  place." 

And  when  the  later  Christians,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  had 
not  seen  him  in  the  flesh,  were  led  to  confess  "the  Name,"  they 
began  as  believers  where  those  earlier  believers  were  perfected. 
They  bowed  the  knee,  first  of  all,  not  to  the  Man  of  Galilee  but 
to  the  Man  of  Calvary,  exalted  to  be  both  Prince  and  Saviour, 

^i  John  iii.  2.  ^i   Cor.  i.  30. 


lo  Christianity  as  Organised 

in  whom  was  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  the  new  birth  into  the 
truth  and  grace  and  kingdom  of  the  Heavenly  Father. 

Who,  then,  was  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels?  The  authoritative 
Teacher,  the  Holy  One  and  the  Righteous,  the  Lord  of  the  con- 
science, the  Ideal  of  moral  perfection,  the  Divine  Saviour  of  the 
world.  "Who  say  ye  that  I  am?"  The  Christ;  but  greater  im- 
measurably than  was  predicted  or  known  of  old.  "And  upon  his 
head  are  many  diadems;  and  he  hath  a  name  written  which  no 
man  knoweth  but  he  himself."^ 

"Jesus !"  name  of  wondrous  love, 
Human  name  of  God  above. 

Reverently,  gladly,  would  we  draw  near  and  bow  the  knee  be- 
fore him — Emmanuel,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

Is  it  possible,  then,  that  there  should  be  doubting  inquiry  as 
to  what  is  the  unifying  truth  of  the  Church  ?  Must  it  not  be  that 
since  his  coming  into  the  world  the  "Churches  of  God"  not  only 
"in  Judaea"  but  everywhere  should  be  "in  Christ  Jesus f'^  Were 
not  the  Gentiles,  once  pagans  and  far  off,  brought  nigh  in  him  to 
their  brethren  in  Israel ;  so  that  of  the  twain  were  made  "one 
new  man,"  with  access  "in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father?"^  Mark 
the  ever-recurring  language  of  the  New  Testament,  "with  Christ," 
"through  Christ,"  "unto  Christ,"  "by  Jesus  Christ,"  "in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,"  "for  Christ's  sake,"  "in  Christ;"  listen 
to  the  hymns  of  the  ages;  read  the  theological  literature  of  the 
present-day  Church.  In  it  all  appears  the  same  supreme  and  inef- 
fable Personality,  "the  Power  of  God  and  the  Wisdom  of  God," 
the  organizing  wisdom  and  power  of  both  the  individual  and  the 
collective  life.  People  becoming  Christians  gather  themselves 
together  into  a  church — it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  in  Christ. 

2.  The  Response  of  Love — in  Emotion,  Will,  Service. 

The  one  most  inclusive  word  to  represent  the  Divine  redeem- 
ing activity  toward  the  world  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  word  love, 
"God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son." 

'Rev.  xix.  12.  *i  Thess.  ii.  14.  'Eph.  ii.  13-18. 


The    Unifying   Truth  ii 

"Who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for  me."  In  like  manner 
the  one  best  verbal  expression  of  the  response  of  the  believing 
soul  to  its  Redeemer  is  this  same  word,  loz'e.  "We  love  because 
he  first  loved  us." 

But  the  greatest  words,  which  are  likely  to  be  the  commoinest, 
are  often  the  most  poorly  appreciated  or  understood.  When 
spoken  they  convey  different  meanings  to  different  minds,  ac- 
cording to  the  different  ideas  of  the  hearer  concerning  the  thing 
which  is  named  by  them.  Now  love  is  one  O'f  the  everyday  words 
of  human  speech ;  and  we  need  hardly  be  reminded  of  the  widely 
different  meanings  which  it  bears  when  used  with  reference  to 
the  various  relationships  of  life  or  to  the  various  tem[>eraments 
and  preferences  of  individuals. 

Let  us  ask,  therefore.  What  is  love  to  Christ,  as  we  may  be- 
lieve that  Christ  himself  meant  it  to  be?  The  word  to  love,  in 
his  teaching,  is  uniformly  a  word  (ayaTraw)  which,  while  leav- 
ing out  the  idea  of  fondness,  connotes  such  nobler  feelings  as 
regard,  veneration,  and  devotedness,  expressing  themselves  in 
a  distinctly  favorable  attitude  of  will  toward  its  object.  The 
substantive  form  of  the  word  {ayairrj)  is  not  to  be  found  in 
classical  literature.  Apparently  it  had  to  be  formed  by  the  New 
Testament  writers  to  express  the  revelation  in  Jesus  of  God's 
attitude  toward  the  world — "for  God  is  love  [ayaTn;]" — ^and 
the  attitude  of  the  responsive  heart  which  "loves  because  he  first 
loved  us."  ' 

May  this  love  to. Christ  express  itself  in  emotion?  In  some 
form  of  emotion,  differing  with  differences  of  human  tempera- 
ment, it  will  undoubtedly  find  expression.  Of  Jehovah  himself 
it  is  written :  "He  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy.  he  will  rest  in 
his  love,  he  will  joy  over  thee  with  singing."'  Psalmists  had 
made  not  only  the  promises  but  the  very  statutes  of  God  their 
"songs."  As  Jesus  stood  at  the  grave  of  his  friend  Lazarus,  or 
looked  from  Olivet  upon  the  doomed  City  of  the  Great  King, 
his  eyes  overfilled  with  tears. 

'Zeph.  iii.  17. 


12  Christianity  as  Organised 

But  the  test  of  love  is  not  in  the  emotions.  It  is  in  the  attitude 
of  the  will.  And  this  is  no  mystic  doctrine :  we  may  readily  see 
how  it  is  true.  Because  love  is  a  desire  for  the  welfare  O'f  its  ob- 
ject, and  as  such  it  will  incite  to  the  voluntary  doing  of  acts  to 
promote  that  welfare.  But  a  voluntary  act  is  a  thing  ol  the  will. 
Wherever  else  love  may  abide,  therefore,  this  is  true,  that  it 
abides  in  the  will.  Wherever  else  it  may  be,  it  is  there,  ever 
there,  moving  the  will  to  certain  acts  and  courses  of  action — 
to  service,  obedience,  self-giving.  Its  reality  is  tested  and  its 
strength  measured  by  the  energy  of  the  will  to  do  kind  and  help- 
ful deeds.  Such,  accordingly,  is  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  of  the 
example  of  those  who  have  given  their  hearts  to  him.  "He  that 
hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
me.'"^  "Yea,  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee. 
Tend  my  sheep."^  "What  do  ye,  weeping  and  breaking  my 
heart?  For  I  am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die 
at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."''  So,  then,  the 
regular  and  effective  expression  of  the  Christian's  love  is  in  his 
will. 

And  this  attitude  of  heart  and  will  toward  Christ  involves  the 
like  attitude  toward  God  the  Father  and  one's  fellow-men.  It  is 
the  determination  of  the  whole  man,  in  Christ's  name,  to  "do 
good  to  all  beings  capable  of  good,"  oneself  included.  Its  spirit 
is  by  no  means  averse  to  singing  songs  or  shedding  tears,  but  its 
habit  is  the  daily  and  perpetual  doing  of  God's  will.  For  Jesus's 
own  life  of  love  was  to  do  this  one  thing,  even  the  will  of  the 
Father  who  sent  him. 

3.  But  Is  Not  Self-Love  a  Common  Motive  of  Church 

Membership? 

Now  the  question  may  arise,  whether  love  to  others  is  the  sole 
or  even  the  chief  motive  that  draws  men  together  in  church 
membership.  Does  not  one  seek  admission  into  the  Christian 
congregation  for  one's  own  sake?    Is  it  not  to  help  secure  one's 

^John  xxi.   14,  21.  "John  xxi.   16.  'Acts  xxi.   13. 


The    Unifying   Truth  13 

own  salvation?  is  there  not  the  motive  of  self-love  in  the  act? 
And  has  it  not  been  so  from  the  1)eginning?  To  such  questioning- 
no  other  than  an  affirmative  reply  can  be  returned/  Indeed,  as 
just  said,  in  love's  desire  to  do  good  to  everybody  oneself  is  in- 
cluded. Nor  can  there  be  anything  wrong  in  such  a  motive ;  for 
who  can  forget  that  Jesus  once  and  again  invites  men  to  come 
unto  him  for  their  own  good  ?  Let  us  look,  for  illustration,  into 
the  content  of  a  single  one  of  these  great  words  O'f  the  Master: 
"If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me  and  drink."  Does  the 
soul  thirst  for  knowledge?  for  righteousness?  for  love?  for  life — 
even  to  be  brought  into  communion  with  the  living  God,  so  as 
to  live  indeed  ?  All  these  are  for  itself.  All  may  be  desired  with 
a  self-regarding  motive.     This  is  undeniable. 

But  in  such  self-love  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  with  love  for 
others.  On  the  contrary,  the  two  agree  i>erfectly  together.  In- 
deed, they  are  necessary  to  each  other.  On  this  plane  of  the  high- 
est things,  to  seek  one's  own  is  to  seek  others'  good,  and  to  seek 
others'  is  to  seek  one's  own.  So  long  as  self-love  is  not  per- 
verted into  selfishness,  or  love  to  others  into  sentimentality,  per- 
sonal experience  will  prove  them  to  be  fellow-helpers  of  the  uni- 
versal good. 

Yet  it  is  also  true  that  in  the  progressive  experience  of  the 
things  of  the  Spirit,  the  conscious  seeking  oi  one's  personal  good 
becomes  less  and  less,  while  love  to  Christ,  service  for  the  world, 
the  doing  of  the  Heavenly  Father's  will,  is  rejoiced  in  more 
and  more  as  its  own  exceeding  great  reward.  Undoubtedly  the 
line  of  progress  lies  in  this  direction.  Whatever  spiritual  sta- 
tions. Bethels  or  Peniels,  may  be  reached  and  passed,  the  height 
of  Christian  attaininent  beyond  which  no  higher  can  be  seen,  is : 

'There  is  only  one  condition  previously  required  of  those  who  desire  ad- 
mission into  these  societies,  a  "desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and 
to  be  saved  from  their  sins." — General  Rules  of  the  United  Society  [of  Meth- 
odists]. 

Dearly  beloved,  you  profess  to  have  a  desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  and  to  be  saved  from  your  sins ;  you  seek  the  fellowship  of  the  people 
of  God,  to  assist  you  in  working  out  your  salvation. — Form  of  the  Reception 
of  Members  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


14  Christianity  as  Organized 

''That  Christ  shall  l^e  magnified  in  my  body,  whether  by  Hfe  or 
by  death,  for  to  me  to  lii'v  is  Christ/' 

4.  Love  Amid  Its  Antagonists, 

After  all,  is  here  a  fair,  unbiased  account,  true  to  sober  reason, 
of  the  formative  and  sustaining  spirit  of  the  Christian  churches? 

The  unsympathizing  observer  may  be  disposed  to  laugh  this 
account  to  scorn.  Looking  at  these  churches  from  outside,  and 
glancing  back  perhaps  along  the  line  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
it  is  no  such  celestial  picture,  he  .says,  that  meets  the  eye.  It  is 
no  such  high-tuned  explanation  of  the  nature  and  genesis  of 
the  numerous  ecclesiasticisms  around  us,  that  can  be  reasonably 
accepted  as  in  harmony  with  the  facts.  Not  only  self-love,  but 
bigotry,  worldliness.  lust  of  power,  lust  of  praise,  rivalry,  strife, 
ill-will,  persecution,  sectarianism,  self-seeking  in  many  ugly 
forms,  have  always  been  characteristic  of  the  Church.  And  all 
this  must  he.  taken  into  the  accoimt  in  describing  its  formative 
principle  and  process.     Thus  runs  the  criticism. 

Nor  is  such  an  indictment  to  be,  in  turn,  laughed  to  scorn; 
for  it  contains  much  unwelcome  truth.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
after  churches  have  been  established  far  and  wide,  and  espe- 
cially when  tempted  by  the  favor  of  society  or  of  the  State,  they 
are  likely  to  be  corrupted.  It  is  also  true  that  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, even  the  most  favorable,  they  will  show  no  lack  of 
serious  faults.  In  knowledge  they  are  far  from  infallibility;  in 
character  they  are  manifestly  not  composed  of  "spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect."  In  the  case  of  Christian  churches  formed, 
for  example,  in  pagan  communities  of  the  present  day,  or  in 
apostolic  times,  evil  tempers  will  flash  out  and  grievous  sins  may 
be  committed.  Even  such  a  case  as  that  of  the  rising  Christian 
community  in  the  Holy  City  a  few  days  after  Pentecost  will 
prove  to  be  no  exception. 

But  while  all  this  is  true,  it  is  not  the  truth.  Tliere  is  such  a 
fact  as  organized  Christianity.  There  are  real  churches  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Notwithstanding  their  numerous  and  painful  imperfec- 
tions, any  fair-minded  observer  would  willingly  call  them  by  that 


The    Unifying   Truth  15 

name.  So  far,  then,  as  tliey  are  true  to  their  great  name,  what 
is  their  animating  spirit,  the  secret  of  their  power,  the  unseen 
Hfe  that  attempts  to  put  forth  its  proper  organs  of  growth  and 
achievement  ?  That  is  the  question ;  and  the  satisfactory  answer 
can  be  found  only  in  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  if  this  be  true,  we  should  expect  to  find,  as  a  confirmatory 
proof,  that  here  also  is  the  source  of  the  rcnczval  of  life.  And 
do  we  not  find  it  to  be  so?  The  individual  Christian  knows  full 
well  that  it  is  so  with  himself;  and  what  is  true  of  each  separate 
soul  is  equally  true  of  a  society  of  souls.  For  each  personally 
and  for  all  as  a  body,  to  come  back  to  Christ  from  any  path  of 
spiritual  declension  is  to  come  back  to  the  source  of  life  and  to 
begin  again  to  ascend  the  heights  of  vision  and  power. 

Under  the  civil  government  the  heart  of  true  citizenship  is  not 
in  a  bare  submission  to  law  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  its  penalties 
or  gaining  some  selfish  advantage  in  politics  or  trade.  It  is  patri- 
otism, which  is  a  form  of  moral  love  that  oftentimes  proves  its 
existence  quite  unexpectedly.  In  time  of  national  j^eace  and  pros- 
perity, for  example,  it  may  seem  that  citizenship  is  little  more 
than  a  means  of  self-protection  and  gain.  Politics — what  is  it 
but  a  game  which  those  who  have  a  liking  for  it  play  for  their 
own  gratification?  The  people — are  they  not  given  up  to  pleas- 
ure-seeking and  money-making,  and  ready  at  any  time  to  de- 
ceive and  defraud  the  government?  Patriotism — is  it  not  a  mere 
enthusiast's  iridescent  dream?  But  if  so,  let  it  be  asked  in  re- 
ply :  How  came  the  idea  of  love  of  country  into  the  mind  of  the 
earliest  ages  and  of  the  whole  world?  what  has  made  the  word 
patriotism,  in  all  elevated  and  earnest  speech  concerning  one's 
native  land,  a  word  of  inspiring  truth  and  power?  and  what  mean 
the  emotions  that  gather  about  that  yard  or  two  of  linen  or  other 
fabric  which  is  unfurled  as  the  national  flag?  Let  some  awful 
crisis  impend.  Let  a  war  for  the  nation's  life  arise.  All  over 
the  land  a  seemingly  new  and  strange  spirit  of  uncalculating  sac- 
rifice will  assert  itself.  Careless  youth  will  be  suddenly  trans- 
formed into  self-devoted  manhood.  And  no  accusation  of  hypoc- 
risy will  be  made  when  from  the  pitiless  field  of  battle  there 


1 6  Christianity  as  Organised 

comes  back  the  testimony  of  surrendered  lives :  "I  am  willing  to 
die  for  my  country." 

But  how  much  more  believable  is  it  that  membership  in  that 
Institution  whose  inner  motive  is  Christianity,  whose  Founder 
is  confessed  as  the  Saviour  of  men,  whose  martyrs  and  mission- 
aries are  in  all  the  world,  whose  thousand  ministrations  to  the 
needy  in  body  and  in  spirit  are  so  familiar  as  to  pass  unnoticed, 
whose  divinely  appointed  end  is  the  realization  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  on  earth — how  much  more  believable  is  it  that  the  very 
heart  and  crown  of  membership  in  the  Church  of  God  should  be 
love  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ  and  to  men  in  Christ's  name? 


II. 

SOCIAL  DEPENDENCE:  ADMISSION  INTO  MEM- 
BERSHIP. 

Every  man  is  no  less  truly  a  companion  than  a  person.  With- 
out association  with  others  he  could  no  more  attain  to  a  clear 
human  consciousness  than  without  a  sense  of  his  own  person- 
ality. Nobody  is  self-sufficing.  "One  is  always  somebody's 
child."  Out  of  companionship  and  into  it  we  all  are  born.  In 
any  path  of  life,  physical,  intellectual,  moral,  spiritual,  it  is  im- 
possible to  walk  alone.  Let  not  the  lover  of  sacred  solitude 
imagine  himself  an  exception.  It  was  a  wise  person  who  said 
to  young  Wesley  when  a  secluded  student  at  Oxford :  "You  must 
find  companions  or  make  them ;  the  Bible  knows  nothing  of  a 
solitary  religion."  No  solitude  is  sacred  enough  to  build  walls 
about  a  soul. 

I.  Christianity  a  Social  Religion, 
In  the  spiritual  life  this  need  of  companionship  is  most  com- 
pletely fulfilled  in  the  divine  ordinance  of  the  Church.  Here, 
therefore,  we  find  ourselves  still  in  the  presence  of  the  truth, 
that  fellowship  with  Christ  will  draw  men  together  into  a  fel- 
lowship /;/  him.  Disciples  of  the  one  Teacher,  servants  of  the 
one  Master,  imitators  of  the  one  Example,  believers  in  the  one 
sinless  Saviour,  they  come  through  this  supreme  relationship 
into  the  spiritual  kinship  of  brothers  one  of  another.  "Ye  are 
one  man  in  Christ  Jcsiis.'^'^ 

^It  was  perhaps  the  mcst  ardent  and  influential  advocate  of  nionasticism 
in  the  early  Church  that  gave  a  young  monk  such  counsel  as  this:  "The 
first  point  to  be  considered  is  whether  you  are  to  live  by  yourself  or  in  a 
monastery  with  others.  For  my  part,  I  should  like  you  to  have  the  society 
of  holy  men,  so  as  not  to  be  thrown  altogether  on  your  own  resources.  For 
if  you  set  out  on  a  road  that  is  new  to  you  without  a  guide,  you  are  sure 
to  turn  aside  immediately.  .  .  .  Tn  loneliness  pride  quickly  creeps  upon  a 
man."  (Jerome,  To  Rusticus,  Ef>.  cxxv.,  c.  9.)  Compare  Martin  Luther's 
experience:  "I  myself  have  found  that  I  never  fell  into  more  sin  than  when 
I  was  a.\one"— "Table  Talk,"  DCLXIII. 

2  (17) 


1 8  Christianity  as  Organised 

Notably  different  is  the  case  of  a  typical  pagan  cult.  Here, 
notwithstanding  religious  festivals  and  a  general  like-mindedness 
which  makes  for  fraternity,  the  dominant  motive  is  the  desire  to 
propitiate  offended  deities.  Hence  a  priesthood  appears  with  its 
pretended  but  welcome  mediation.  Through  the  priest  the  indi- 
vidual worshiper  makes  his  offering  and  hopes  to  win  the  favor 
of  the  gods.  The  sacerdotal  transaction  represents  substantially 
the  whole  of  religion.  There  is  no  special  demand  for  an  inter- 
communion O'f  the  devotees  or  a  dependence  on  one  another  in 
their  daily  religious  life.  The  idea  O'f  brotherhood  is  without 
any  proper  embodiment. 

In  a  pure  form  of  Christianity,  on  the  contrary,  the  law  of 
brotherly  love  is  regnant :  no  priest  intervenes  between  the  soul 
and  the  one  common  Saviour ;  religion,  not  ceremonial  but  vital, 
embraces  the  whole  of  life  and  calls  for  unceasing  moral  en- 
deavor ;  every  possible  help,  human  as  well  as  directly  Divine, 
is  needed ;  interchange  of  experiences,  sympathy,  mutual  service, 
cooperation,  are  called  for;  meetings  and  associations  are  in- 
evitable. "If  they  fall,  the  one  will  lift  up  his  fellow;  but  woe 
to  him  that  is  alone  when  he  falleth,  and  hath  not  another  to 
lift  him  up!'"  "According  as  each  has  received  a  gift,  minister- 
ing it  among  yourselves.'" 

What  is  the  architectural  design  of  the  pagan  temple-builder? 
A  house  for  the  occupancy  of  a  god.  What  of  the  Christian 
architect  ?  A  house  of  worship  and  of  service  for  the  occupancy 
of  the  people.  "God  and  one  man,"  it  has  been  said,  "will  serve 
for  any  religion  except  Christianity."  Even  in  that  most  perfect 
picture  of  individualism  in  religion,  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress," 
Christian  must  have  his  strength  renewed  in  the  Palace  Beautiful 
amid  congenial  spirits,  and  must  fall  in  with  Faithful  and  other 
companions  by  the  way. 

While  Christian  is  among  his  godly  friends, 
Their  golden  mouths  make  him  sufficient  mends 
For  all  his  griefs. 

^Eccles.  iv.   10.  °i   Pet.  iv.  lO. 


Social  Dependence:  Admission  19 

Now  this  social  need  was  distinctly  provided  for  in  the  very- 
beginning  of  the  gospel.  We  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  stronger 
emphasis  on  the  social  element  in  religion  than  that  which  Jesus 
gave.  He  declared  himself  present,  though  unseen,  with  his 
true  disciples  in  any  congregation  of  them  on  earth — "where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together"  in  his  name.  And  just  as  when 
he  promises  to  make  his  abode  with  the  man  who  keeps  his 
word,'  it  is  shown  that  he  wills  that  men  shall  keep  his  word,  and 
just  as  when  he  promises  to  be  with  those  who  teach  and  preach 
his  gospel,  "alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  it  is  shown 
that  he  wills  that  his  messengers  shall  teach  and  preach,  so  like- 
wise when  he  promises  to  be  in  the  congregations  of  his  dis- 
ciples, it  is  shown  that  he  wills  that  they  shall  meet  together  in 
congregations. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  verbal  teaching  that  Jesus  sets  forth  the 
sociality  of  religion.  He  shows  it  also  and  chiefly  in  his  life. 
No  recluse,  no  separatist,  but  the  holy  Friend  of  even  the  most 
despised,  and  a  seeker  of  friends — such  was  he  who  uniformly 
spoke  of  himself  as  the  Son  of  Man. 

To  Jesus,  indeed,  the  will  of  the  Father  was  the  all  of  life; 
but  a  very  large  part  O'f  that  will  was  brotherhood :  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  He  made  a  household  of  the 
Twelve  and  lived  among  them.  Their  lack  of  insight  and  sym- 
pathy grieved  him  to  the  heart :  "What,  could  ye  not  watch  with 
me  one  hour?"  Yet  he  loved  them  unto  the  end;  while  for  the 
eternal  future  it  was  his  prayer,  "I  will  that  where  I  am,  they 
also  may  be  with  me,"*  and  his  word  of  assurance :  "That  where 
I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."*  Having  gone  away,  he  came  again 
in  the  glory  of  the  resurrection,  and  was  made  known  to  them, 
as  a  foretoken  of  the  heavenly  life,  in  the  breaking  of  bread,  and 
in  other  social  acts.  When  he  spoke  oi  the  kingdom  of  God, 
whether  present  or  future,  he  would  sometimes  use  the  old-time 
social  figure  of  a  table  at  which  the  redeemed  were  to  sit  down 
together,  partaking  of  a  common  meal.* 

'John  xiv.  23.         ^John  xvii.  24.         ^John  xiv.  3. 
*Matt.  xxii.  4 ;  xxvi.  29 ;  Luke  xiv.  15 ;  xxii.  30. 


20  Christianity  as  Organised 

It  was  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  therefore,  that  those  whom 
he  sent  forth  from  immediate  companionship  with  himself  be- 
came seekers  and  promoters  of  fellowship.  They  would  share 
with  others  the  new  life  which  they  themselves  had  received,  "the 
eternal  life,  which  was  with  the  Father  and  was  manifested"  in 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  "That  which  we  have  seen  and  heard," 
says  one  of  them,  "declare  we  unto  you  also,  that  ye  also  may 
hai/e  fellowship  zvith  ns."^ 

Accordingly  the  response  of  those  upon  whom  such  an  appeal 
has  power  will  be  to  enter  into  this  fellowship  of  the  new  life. 
"Tliis  Jesus  whom,"  said  Paul  to  the  people  of  Thessalonica,  "I 
proclaim  unto  you  is  the  Christ.  And  some  of  them  were  per- 
suaded, and  consorted  with  \^Trpo(T(.K\-qpih6r}(Tav,  cast  in  their  lots 
with,  were  Divinely  allotted  to]  Paul  and  Silas. "^  It  will  al- 
ways be  so.  To  win  believers  in  Jesus  is  to  make  them  brethren. 
They  will  cast  in  their  lots  with  their  fellow-Christians. 

It  might  be  remarked,  parenthetically,  that  even  the  meeting- 
places  of  the  early  Christians  were  distinctly  promotive  of  fel- 
lowship. In  our  own  day,  the  most  sociable  of  all  the  meetings 
of  a  church  are  likely  to  be  those  that  are  held  in  the  homes  of 
fellow  church  members ;  and  such  of  necessity  were  congrega- 
tional meetings  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  Christianity. 
There  were  no  church  edifices,  and  it  was  in  the  homes  of  their 
friends  and  brethren  that  those  who  had  cast  in  their  lots  with  one 
another  as  followers  of  Jesus  habitually  met  together. 

But  a  far  stronger  figure  is  used.  One  of  these  same  two 
apostles  with  whom  the  Thessalonian  converts  consorted  made 
use  O'f  it  in  an  epistle  to  Gentile  Christians.  Let  us  recall  it: 
"That  he  might  create  in  himself  of  twain  one  new  man.""  Of 
what  twain?  Of  two  peoples  that  had  long  been  at  enmity, 
not  indifferent  nor  simply  alienated,  but  bitterly  antagonistic. 
Think  how  the  Jew  had  regarded  the  Gentile  and  the  Gentile 
the  Jew  through  ages  and  generations.  But  now  the  soul  of  the 
Jew  and  the  soul  of  the  Gentile  were  reconciled,  brought  into 

^i   John  i.  3.         ^Acts  xvii.  3,  4.         'Eph.  ii.    15. 


Social  Dependence:  Admission  21 

oneness  of  spirit  and  aim,  in  being  both  reconciled  to  God  in 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  even  this  twain  that  became  ofie  new  man. 
At  the  cross  tiie  insurmountable  barrier  had  l^een  broken  down. 
And  such,  in  its  crowning  example,  was  the  genesis  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

Unquestionably,  then,  the  power  of  Christ  was  creative  of  a 
new  individual.  First  of  all,  a  new  individual.  But  it  was  also 
creative  of  a  new  fellowship.  Christians  were  not  simply  so 
many  separate  persons ;  they  at  once  became  a  people,  a  race,  a 
nation,  a  priesthood.  So  declares  the  first  of  Jesus's  confessing 
disciples :  "Ye  are  an  elect  race,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  na- 
tion, a  people  for  God's  own  possession."^ 

2.  Social  Dependence  in  Worship  and  in  Work. 

In  two  things  that  might  be  particularly  noted  does  this  Chris- 
tian social  dependence  appear:  in  worship  and  in  the  extension 
of  Christ's  kingdom. 

First,  in  worship.  Now  it  is  true  that  the  soul  must  come  to 
God  alone.  Otherwise  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  know  him  at  all. 
As  truly  as  if  there  were  no  other  being  in  the  universe  except 
the  Creator  and  myself  must  I  listen  to  his  voice  and  speak  to 
him  in  whose  hand  my  life  is.  Nevertheless,  all  answers  to 
prayer  are  not  received  by  the  solitary  worshiper.  Some  are 
specifically  promised  to  the  worshiping  assemblage.  It  may  be 
a  very  small  assemblage ;  but  any  real  Christian  communion  will 
open  the  heart  to  receive  a  greater  blessing  from  on  high:  "If 
two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heav- 
en."' And  no  petition  that  is  either  unbelieving  or  unloving  may 
hope  to  be  heard.'  "But  tarry  ye  in  the  city,"  was  the  Master's 
word,  "until  ye  be  clothed  with  power  from  on  high  ;"*  and  it 
was  when  "they  were  all  together  in  one  place"  that  the  garment 
of  power  descended  upon  them. 

The  Lord's  Supper  also,  the  sacrament  which  the  ever-living 

^i  Pet.  ii.  9.        ^Matt.  xviii.  19.        ^Mark  xi.  24,  25.        *Luke  xxiv.  49. 


22  Christianity  as  Organised 

Saviour  has  given  us  of  trust  and  love  toward  himself,  calls 
most  truly  and  tenderly  for  trust  and  love  toward  each  other. 
"Seeing  that  we,  who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body;  for 
we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread.'" 

Secondly.  As  in  the  case  of  spiritual  receptivity  in  worship, 
so  in  that  of  effectiveness  in  extending  Christ's  kingdom  broth- 
erhood is  needed.  Are  Christians  to  be  good  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ?  The  peculiar  power  of  an  army,  as  compared  with  any 
equal  number  of  brave  men,  is  in  systematic  cooperation.  Are 
Christians  coworkers  with  Christ  for  the  redemption  of  the  world? 
Good  feeling,  harmony,  a  common  aim,  the  division  of  labor,  will 
multiply  the  efficiency  of  the  individual  laborer  many  fold.  "I 
beseech  thee  also,  true  yokefellow,  help  those  women,  for  they 
labored  with  me  in  the  gospel,  with  Clement  also,  and  the  rest 
of  my  fellozu-workers/''  "And  he  called  unto  him  the  Twelve, 
and  began  to  send  them  forth  by  tzvo  and  two."^ 

There  may  be  solitary  workers,  each  doing  what  he  can  in  his 
own  line  without  contact  with  others.  There  may  be  competitive 
workers,  each  endeavoring  to  surpass  others,  oftentimes  to  their 
disadvantage.  But  the  great  body  of  the  world's  work  is  done 
by  associated  workers,  each  depending  on  others  and  depended 
on  by  them,  each  assisting  others  and  assisted  by  them. 

Need  we  be  reminded  that  in  Christianity  this  cooperative 
method,  which  has  been  illustrated  from  the  beginning,  must  con- 
tinue unto  the  end?  Cooperation  is  the  method  of  the  kingdom 
of  God — here  and  we  may  believe  hereafter.  For  let  us  consider : 
Is  solitariness  the  law  of  the  universe?  Is  competition?  And 
what,  on  the  other  hand,  shall  be  said  of  cooperation  ? 

3.  The  Church  Idea  in  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles.  ' 

Social  dependence,  as  illustrated  thus  in  worship  and  in  work, 
will  help  to  explain  the  prominence  of  the  Church  idea  in  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  that  follow  the  Gospels.  For  this 
idea  is  very  prominent  in  these  books.     The  very  literary  form 

'i  Cor.  x.  17.  ^Phil.  iv.  3-  'Mark  vi.  7. 


Social  Dependence:  Admission  23 

which  most  of  them  have  taken  is  suggestive  of  it ;  they  are  not 
treatises,  but  letters  written  to  be  read  aloud  in  congregations. 

Except  as  a  social  institution,  Christianity  could  not  have  made 
an  effective  start  or  gathered  its  forces  for  subsequent  progress 
and  achievement.  Therefore  even  in  the  apostolic  period  it  must 
embody  itself  not  only  in  persons  but  also  in  societies — "a  city 
set  on  a  hill." 

Of  course  it  is  not  simply  that  Christ's  people  should  be  con- 
gregated or  made  to  live  side  by  side  in  the  same  group  by  some 
external  authority ;  for  in  such  a  case  pro'ximity  might  not  prove 
to  be  helpfulness.  The  uniting  pressure  must  come  from  within, 
like  the  informing  and  uniting  life  force  of  any  organism.  It 
must  be  a  spirit  of  truth  and  love.  The  plants  of  a  garden  bed 
or  the  trees  of  the  forest  grow  side  by  side,  but  instead  of  help- 
ing they  hinder  one  another.  A  congregation  of  Jesus  Christ 
must  be  organically — which  is  to  say,  vitally — interrelated ;  not 
like  the  collective  plants  in  a  garden  bed,  but  like  the  several 
organs  of  the  individual  plant,  which  are  each  for  all  and  all  for 
each.  The  man  that  has  found  his  Father  in  heaven  instinctively 
seeks  his  brother  on  earth;  and  the  two  brothers  are  to  become 
one,  m.utually  serviceable,  in  Christ. 

Many,  it  is  true,  are  the  sinful  interferences,  the  misunderstand- 
ings, strifes,  and  envyings,  that  hinder  and  oftentimes  destroy 
this  unity  of  the  Spirit.  But  the  idea  persists,  and,  in  proportion 
as  the  Christianity  professed  is  real,  clothes  itself  in  everyday 
fact.  It  is  the  ethical  idea  of  "mutualism"  glorified.  '^Bear  ye 
one  another's  burdens,"  says  Paul  to  his  Galatian  converts,  and 
immediately  illumines  the  precept  with  an  interpretation  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  "and  so  fulfill  the  lazv  of  Christ/'  Even  be- 
tween the  chief  of  the  apostles  and  the  humblest  Christian  broth- 
er, it  is  a  reciprocal  service  that  is  due :  "I  long  to  see  you,  .  .  . 
that  I  with  you  may  be  comforted  in  you,  each  of  us  by  the  other's 
faith,  both  yours  and  mine."*  Alike  in  the  first  age  and  in  all 
after  ages,  the  Church,  so  far  as  it  has  kept  true  to  its  heavenly 

^Rom.    i.    II,    12. 


24  Christianity  as  Organized 

calling,  has  been,  in  the  highest  sense  known  on  earth,  a  mutual 
aid  society. 

A  mutual  aid  society?  Truly  so;  but  much  more  than  that. 
Such  a  name  does  not  go  far  enough  within.  The  Church  is  a 
Christian  life  society.  It  has  not  merely  a  corporate  existence, 
but  a  corporate  life.  And  to  this  corporate  life  each  individual 
member  is  to  make  his  contribution,  and  from  it  to  receive  spir- 
itual quickening.  Attend  upon  some  congregation's  worship  on 
the  Sabbath  day.  be  present  at  its  social  meetings,  make  acquaint- 
ance with  its  members,  hear  about  its  plans  and  undertakings,  lis- 
ten to  the  sermons,  take  part  in  the  work.  Come  thus  intO'  sym- 
pathetic contact  with  that  Church.  And  you  have  thereby  put 
yourself  into  contact  with  not  simply  an  individual  but  a  col- 
lective life.  Disregarding  whatever  evil  tempers  may  have  in- 
truded to  weaken  or  pollute  it,  what  is  it  that  you  receive?  A 
spirit  O'f  worship  and  service ;  a  spirit  of  prayer,  penitence,  aspi- 
ration, effort,  faith,  hope,  love,  enterprise  for  the  kingdom  of 
God ;  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  When  a  church  is  organized  in 
any  community,  it  is  this  life  that  is  organized.  All  may  share 
it  if  they  will.  The  Christian  disciple  will  not  shut  himself  off 
from  its  inflowing.  Nor  is  there  a  Christian  disciple  but  may  add 
something  to  its  volume  and  intensity. 

4.  Original  and  Later  Conditions  of  Membership. 

Now,  for  the  maintenance  of  such  a  society  in  its  integrity  two 
economic  regulations  are  necessary :  There  must  be  conditions  of 
membership  and  the  administration  of  discipline. 

First,  there  must  be  conditions  of  membership.  Because  the 
unfit  member  may  prove  a  hindrance  both  to  communion  and  serv- 
ice ;  for  the  closer  the  relationship,  the  greater  the  power  either  to 
benefit  or  to  trouble,  to  make  or  to  mar. 

Let  us  trace  briefly  the  history  of  this  regulation.  Beginning 
wnth  the  apostolic  age,  we  see  at  first  not  so  much  conditions  of 
church  membership  as  conditions  of  personal  salvation.  These 
conditions,  expressed  in  a  word,  were  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ. 
But  this  faith  included  repentance,  and  was  professed  in  the  rite 


Social  Dependence:  Admission  25 

of  Christian  baptism.  If  it  be  asked,  then,  who  might  be  re- 
ceived into  an  apostolic  church,  the  answer  is :  Those  who  were 
presumably  in  the  way  of  salvation.  Baptism,  however,  being" 
the  outward  ordinance  through  which  the  profession  was  made, 
may  be  called  the  door  of  admission  into  this  visible  fellowship 
of  Christ's  i>eopIe. 

Moreover,  was  it  not  a  door  which  any  true  teacher  or  preach- 
er of  the  gosi>el  was  authorized  to  open  ?  Neither  the  Apostle  to 
the  Gentiles,'  nor  Philip  (a  distributer  of  church  funds),^  nor 
Ananias  (apparently  what  we  should  call  a  layman),'  waited 
for  any  other  authority  for  baptizing  his  converts  than  that  under 
which  he  had  been  already  sent  forth  with  the  word  of  life.  Nor 
is  there  any  evidence  that  after  baptism  the  formal  vote  of  a  con- 
gregation or  of  a  body  of  representative  officers  was  necessary  to 
admit  the  new  believer  into  actual  membership  in  a  local  church. 
The  probability  would  certainly  seem  to  be  that,  unless  objection 
were  raised,  he  was  informally  and  gladly  welcomed  to  commun- 
ion and  cooperation  with  his  brethren.* 

Of  a  course  of  probation  or  of  catechetical  instruction  for 
church  membership  there  is  likewise  no  evidence.  That  in  cer- 
tain instances,  however,  even  in  that  day  of  the  manifold  gifts 
of  the  Spirit,  and  of  apostolic  oversight,  such  a  course  should 
have  been  required,  cannot  be  declared  impossible. 

In  the  sub-apostolic  age  we  do  find  some  specific  preparation 

h   Cor.  i.  17.  *Acts  ix.  10-19.  'Acts  viii.  12. 

*"We  have  in  the  case  of  Paul  a  very  interesting  statement  (Acts  ix.  26), 
that  'when  he  was  come  to  Jerusalem  he  essayed  to  join  himself  to  the  dis- 
ciples, and  they  were  all  afraid  of  him,  not  believing  that  he  was  a  disciple ; 
but  Barnabas  took  him  and  brought  him  to  the  apostles,'  etc.  From  this  it 
would  appear  that  there  had  to  be  application  for  membership,  and  that  it 
was  not  always  granted  without  some  consideration  in  the  case  of  doubtful 
persons.  .  .  .  And  the  right  of  passing  upon  members  is  distinctly  im- 
plied ...  in  Romans  xiv.  i,  where  the  Apostle  exhorts  the  brethren  to 
receive  even  those  who  are  weak  in  the  faith,  provided,  of  course,  their  faith 
was  genuine."  (Dargan,  "Ecclesiology,"  pp.  37-39-)  But  it  is  only  through 
an  extremely  doubtful  exegesis  that  the  first-cited  passage  can  be  made  to 
yield  a  case  of  application  for  membership,  or  the  other  a  case  of  congre- 
gational voting. 


26  Christianity  as  Organised 

for  reception  through  baptism  into  the  Church.  The  candidate 
must  be  instructed,  must  show  that  he  is  convinced  of  the  truths 
of  the  gospel,  and  must  pray  with  fasting  and  confession  of  sin.' 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  third  century,  and  especially  in  the 
fourth  century,  this  preparation  for  church  membership  in  the 
case  O'f  converts  from  non-Christian  faiths,  whether  Jewish, 
pagan,  or  heretical,  became  very  elaborate.  The  candidates  were 
called  catechumens,  the  name  indicating  that  they  were  distinct- 
ively subjects  of  instruction.  These  instructed  ones  were  divided 
into  three  classes:  (i)  the  "hearers"  (audientes),  who  were  per- 
mitted to  come  into  the  congregation  to  hear  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  preaching,  but  must  then  retire;  (2)  the 
"kneelers"  (gcmiflectcntes),  who,  in  addition  to  hearing  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  sermon,  might  kneel  and  pray;  (3)  the  "qualified'' 
(competentes) ,  who,  having  passed  through  the  intervening 
stages,  might  offer  themselves  for  baptism. 

These  were  now  instructed  in  the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  nature  of  the  sacraments — indeed,  it  would  seem,  in  a  fairly 
complete  body  of  doctrine;  and  this  course  of  instruction  having 
been  given,  they  were  received  on  profession  of  faith,  through 
baptism,  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church.  The  whole  period  of 
probation  sometimes  lasted  two  or  three  years ;  though  much  de- 
pended here  upon  the  character  of  the  candidate.^ 

Now  the  spirit  of  evangelic  freedom  would  pronounce  the  an- 
cient catechumenate  too  long-continued  and  too  formal  a  process. 

*"But  before  the  baptism  let  the  baptizer  fast,  and  the  baptized,  and  what- 
ever others  can;  but  thou  shalt  order  the  baptized  to  fast  one  or  two  weeks 
before."     (Didache,  c.  7.) 

"As  many  as  are  persuaded  and  believe  that  what  we  teach  and  say  is 
true,  and  undertake  to  be  able  to  live  accordingly,  are  instructed  to  pray  and 
to  entreat  God  with  fasting  for  the  remission  of  their  sins  that  are  past,  we 
praying  and  fasting  with  them.  Then  they  are  brought  by  us  where  there 
is  water,  and  regenerated  in  the  same  manner  in  which  we  ourselves  were  re- 
generated."    (Justin  Martyr,  First  Apol.,  c.  61.) 

-"Let  him  who  is  to  be  a  catechumen  be  a  catechumen  for  three  years ;  but 
if  any  one  be  diligent,  and  have  a  good  will  to  his  business,  let  him  be  ad- 
mitted; for  it  is  not  the  length  of  time  but  the  course  of  life  that  is  judged." 
(Const.  Apostol.,  Bk.  VIII.,  c.  32.) 


Social  Dependence:  Adynission  27 

It  is  difficult  to  see  in  it  a  picture  of  the  good  Shepherd  bring-ing 
home  his  sheep  that  was  lost.  Let  the  adverse  verdict  stand.  But 
let  it  be  modified  by  the  consideration  that  these  catechumens 
were  for  the  most  part  men  and  women  who  from  childhood  had 
been  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  ideas  and  sentiments  of  pagan- 
ism, and  who,  experience  had  taught,  should  not  without  much 
care  be  admitted  to  the  full  privileges  of  the  Christian  house- 
hold. In  fact,  it  is  a  similar  probation  in  which  many  applicants 
for  admission  into  the  Church  are  held  by  Christian  missionaries 
of  the  present  day.^ 

Let  it  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  baptism  which  closed  tlie 
long  i>eriod  of  disciplinary  waiting  must  have  been  profoundly 
impressive.  No  wonder  that  it  should  have  been  spoken  of  in 
the  pictorial  language  of  the  time  as  the  new  birth  of  the  soul. 

But  this  preparatory  catechumenate  was  not  perpetuated.  x\ft- 
er  the  sixth  century  it  seems  to  have  fallen  into  a  disuse  that 
gradually  became  universal.  This  was  due  to  the  magical  and 
worldly  conception  of  the  Church  that  was  prevalent  under  Con- 
stantine  and  his  successors.  As  the  ministry  became  more  and 
more  completely  a  priesthood,  less  emphasis  was  laid  upon  the 
patient  and  difficult  work  of  teaching;  and,  moreover,  the  profes- 
sion of  the  state  religion  came  to  be  little  more  than  a  politico- 
religious  form.  Accordingly  baptism  was  administered  not  only 
to  all  infants,  but  without  moral  or  theological  requirements  to 
people  generally.  Whole  tribes  of  barbarians,  for  instance,  were 
brought  out  of  heathenism  into  the  Church,  with  no  course  of 
preparatory  instruction,  and  with  a  baptism  that  was  practically 
forced  upon  them. 

Multitudinism  gained  the  ascendency.  Wherever  Christianity 
was  organized,  the  whole  population  was  regarded  as  legitimate- 
ly included  in  its  membership.  From  the  too  protracted  proba- 
tion of  the  catechumenate,  the  ecclesiastical  pendulum  swung  to 

^I  have  heard  a  missionary  to  China  say,  "The  trouble  now  is  not  so 
much  to  get  people  into  the  Church  as  to  keep  them  out" — till  they  should 
be  sufficiently  instructed  and  should  give  evidence  of  a  genuine  Christian 
faith. 


28  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  opposite  extreme  of  not  only  no  probation  at  all  (as  appar- 
ently in  the  New  Testament  period)  but  of  no  proper  require- 
ments of  any  kind  for  admission  to  the  Christian  brotherhood. 
Indeed,  where  did  the  Christian  brotherhood — which  in  every 
age  is  the  true  Church — exist,  except  here  and  there  in  little  com- 
panies of  elect  so'uls?  The  Church  as  organized  had  become  the 
sacerdotal  clergy,  appointed  to  put  the  souls  of  all  men  into  the 
way  of  salvation,  and  to  keep  them  there,  chiefly  through  the 
merit  of  good  works  and  the  impartation  of  sacramental  grace. 

In  the  Eastern  and  the  Roman  Church  this  same  theory  has 
been  practiced,  as  far  as  circumstances  are  favorable,  unto  the 
present  day. 

In  the  State  Churches  of  Protestantism  also  multitudinism, 
more  or  less  modified  by  evangelic  doctrine,  is  the  generally  prev- 
alent theory.  Where  Ritualism  prevails,  the  main  stress  is  laid 
upon  baptism  (supposed  to  be  a  regenerative  rite),  catechetical 
instruction,  and  confirmation,  as  conditions  of  personal  salvation 
and  of  church  membership.  But  in  the  Free  Evangelical  Church- 
es the  New  Testament  idea  of  a  church  as  a  congregation  of  be- 
lievers unto  salvation  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  distinctly  set 
forth ;  and  a  credible  profession  of  faith  is  the  condition  of  mem- 
bership— as  we  shall  see  in  a  few  moments. 

5.  Conditions  of  Membership  in  Protestant  Churches. 

As  to  who  shall  decide  upon  the  candidate's  fitness  and  au- 
thorize his  reception  into  membership,  the  law  greatly  differs  in 
different  Protestant  Churches.  In  some,  the  authority  rests  with 
the  diocesan  bishop;  in  some,  with  the  local  pastor;  in  some,  with 
the  session  of  elders ;  in  some,  with  the  church  council  consisting 
of  pastor,  elders,  and  deacons;  in  some,  with  the  assembled  con- 
gregation. This  diversity  of  administration  illustrates  the  gen- 
eral character  of  the  different  ecclesiastical  polities  of  which  it 
forms  a  part — namely,  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal,  the  Presbyterian,  the  Lutheran,  the  Congregational. 
Theoretically  the  diversity  is  as  wide  as  can  easily  be  imagined ; 
but  practically  it  is  inconsiderable.     It  would  probably  be  a  rare 


Social  Dependence:  Admission  29 

instance  in  which  a  person  received  into  the  Church  under  any 
one  of  these  forms  of  administration  would  have  been  refused 
admission  under  any  other. 

As  to  the  conditions  of  membership,  taking  the  same  five  evan- 
gelical communions  as  examples,  the  similarity  almost  amounts 
to  sameness.  These  conditions  are  represented  by  the  profes- 
sions and  vows  required  at  the  time  of  reception  into  the  Church. 
What  are  they?  In  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  to  renevV 
the  "promise  and  vow"  made  at  baptism — namely,  the  renuncia- 
tion of  all  sin,  belief  of  the  "Articles  of  the  Faith,  as  contained 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed,"  and  the  obedient  keeping  of  God's  holy 
commandments.^  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  renew 
this  same  baptismal  covenant,  to  confess  Christ  as  the  personal 
Saviour,  to  profess  belief  in  Christian  doctrine  as  set  forth  in  the 
"Articles  of  Religion,"  to  keep  the  "Rules"  of  the  Church,  to 
observe  the  Christian  ordinances,  to  contribute  to  the  support  of 
the  gospel  and  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  Church,  to  pro- 
mote "the  welfare  of  the  brethren  and  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom.""  In  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  "receive 
and  pro'fess  the  Christian  faith,"  to  repent  and  "trust  in  the 
mercy  oi  God  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ,"  to  "promise  in  his 
strength  to  lead  a  sober,  righteous,  and  godly  life,"  to  observe 
the  means  of  grace,  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Church,  to 
"continue  in  the  peace  and  fellowship  of  the  people  of  God.'"'  In 
the  Lutheran  Church,  to  profess  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  to  an- 
swer affirmatively  the  question :  "Do  you  promise  conscientiously 
to  use  the  means  of  grace,  to  be  obedient  to  the  order  and  dis- 
cipline O'f  the  congregation,  and  to  be  faithful  members  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  ?"*   In  the  Congregational  Church- 

^The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  "Order  of  Confirmation,"  "Ministration  of 
Baptism  to  Such  as  Are  of  Riper  Years." 

"The  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "Reception  into  Full 
Membership." 

'The  Book  of  Common  Worship,  "Order  for  the  Administration  of  Bap- 
tism to  Adults  and  Reception  to  the  Lord's  Supper,"  "Order  for  the  Con- 
firmation of  Religious  Vows  and  Reception  to  the  Lord's  Supper." 

*Forins  for  Ministerial  Acts.  "Confirmation." 


30  Christianity  as  Organised 

es  (according  to  the  recommendation  of  the  "Council  Manual"), 
to  profess  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  system  of  truth  held  by  the 
Congregational  Churches,  to  repent  of  sin,  to  follow  Christ  "in 
all  things,  to  walk  with  his  disciples  in  love,  and  to  live  for  his 
glory,"  to  adopt  the  covenant  of  the  Church,  help  to  sustain  all  its 
worship  and  work,  and  to  live  in  its  fellowship."^ 

But  these  conditions  may  be  more  briefly,  and  not  less  sig- 
nificantly, expressed  as  the  personal  confession  of  Christ.  "Ev- 
ery one  who  shall  confess  me  before  men" — it  is  the  man,  the 
woman,  the  youth,  the  child  described  in  these  words  of  the  Son 
of  Man  that  is  accepted  for  admission  into  the  visible  fellowship 
of  his  people.  And  the  content  of  the  Name  here  confessed  may 
be  taken,  according  to  the  Church's  apprehension  of  its  meaning 
from  the  beginning,  as  that  of  the  authoritative  Teacher,  the 
supreme  Master,  the  sinless  Example,  the  atoning  Saviour.  To 
demand  a  truly  greater  confession  would  be  impossible :  yet  to 
substitute  a  less  would  be  to  set  aside  the  substance  of  the  evan- 
gelic faith. 

It  is,  then,  with  this  confession  on  his  lips  that  the  seeker  of 
Christian  fellowship  and  guidance  stands  knocking  at  the  door 
of  a  congregation  of  Christ's  people. 

^The  Council  Manual,  "Form  for  the  Reception  of  Members." 


III. 

SOCIAL  DEPENDENCE:  DISCIPLINE. 

It  would  be  no  matter  of  surprise  if  one  should  feel  the  thrill 
of  a  new  gladness  or  the  awe  of  a  hitherto  unrecognized  obliga- 
tion on  his  entrance  into  the  congregational  fellowship  of  the 
Christian  life.  With  the  realization  of  what  this  fellowship  sig- 
nifies there  will  surely  come  to  him  some  such  experience.  For 
the  congregation,  however  small  or  obscure,  whose  door  is  opened 
to  receive  him  is  included  in  the  visible,  confessing  Congregation 
of  those  who  have  truly  been  gathered  together  in  Jesus's  name 
in  all  the  world.  If  there  be  but  two  or  three  who  meet  in  that 
Name,  he  who  unites  with  them  becomes  a  member — yes,  a  mem- 
ber of  "the  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  firstborn,  who 
are  enrolled  in  heaven.'"  That  is  the  holy  communioii  in  which 
he  holds  his  membership.  For  as  Paul,  an  apostle  of  Jesus 
Christ,  greeted  the  Corinthian  Christians  as  "the  Church  of  God 
which  is  at  Corinth, "''  in  like  language  may  the  local  Christian 
congregation  be  addressed  anywhere  and  at  any  time.  It  is  not 
simply  a  church,  but  the  Church  of  God — a  genuine  part,  rep- 
resenting the  whole. 

But  it  is  with  this  local  congregation  that  the  newly  received 
communicant  has  immediate  relationship.  They  receive  him ;  and 
not  only  unto  brotherly  association  with  themselves,  but  unto 
watch-care  and  Christian  government  as  well. 

Admission  under  the  conditions  of  membership  is  followed  by 
the  administration  of  discipline. 

It  is  this  economic  regulation  that  here  remains  for  us  to  con- 
sider. And  we  shall  have  to  begin  by  making  these  several  dis- 
tinctions :  Discipline  may  be  either  formative  or  corrective,  and 
both  these  kinds  of  discipline  may  be  either  personal  or  O'fficial. 
Let  us  see. 

^Heb.  xii.  23.  "1  Cor.  i.   i. 

(31) 


32  Christianity  as  Organised 

I.  Formative  Discipline — Personal,  Official. 

The  older  meaning  of  the  word  {discerc,  discipiihis,  disciplina) 
is  to  teach,  to  nurture,  to  train,  and  to  oversee  with  this  educative 
pur]X)se/  ExempHfications  of  it  are  conspicuous  in  the  home  and 
the  school  as  well  as  in  the  Church.  Teaching,  nurturing,  train- 
ing— in  a  word,  education — this  is  formative  discipline.  The 
yoiing  Christian,  therefore,  entering  the  communion  of  a  true 
and  well-directed  church  of  Christ  is  admitted  to  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  fellow-disciples,  to  a  place  at  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, to  organized  opportunities  of  usefulness  and  influence — and 
to  something  more.  He  is  admitted  to  a  Christian  watch-care 
that  is  distinctly  educative. 

Is  discipline  a  forbidding  word  ?  It  is  a  word  of  power.  Com- 
pare an  undisciplined  with  a  disciplined  eye  or  hand  or  appetite 
or  intellect  or  spirit — in  a  word,  an  undisciplined  with  a  disci- 
plined life.  It  will  show  the  difference  between  savagery  and 
civilization,  weakness  and  strength,  crudity  and  economy;  be- 
tween the  failure  of  even  the  well-endowed  mind  when  it  works 
unsteadily  and  unskillfully,  "without  a  conscience  or  an  aim," 
and  the  strong,  steady  step  of  achievement.  Truly,  therefore, 
might  the  ancient  "Wisdom  of  Solomon"  declare  that  "her 
[Wisdom's]  true  beginning  is  desire  of  discipline,  and  the  care 
for  discipline  is  love  of  her." 

Nor  should  we  think  of  the  discipline  of  the  soul  in  the  Chris- 
tian congregation  as  necessarily  a  matter  of  official  or  organized 
procedure.  It  is,  first  of  all,  not  official  in  any  sense  whatever, 
but  purely  personal.  Such,  beyond  doubt,  is  the  impression  that 
one  would  receive  from  the  New  Testament.  Church  members 
must  always  and  by  all  means  watch  over  and,  as  need  may  be, 
admonish  one  another,  that  they  may  both  encourage  the  good 
and  cure  the  evil.'  They  must  show  a  spirit  of  mutual  forbear- 
ance and  forgiveness :  "How  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me, 
and  I  forgive  him  ?"     "Until  seventy  times  seven."     If  one  be 

^In  the  one  instance  of  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  Authorized  Version  of 
the  Bible — Job  xxxvi.  lO — it  means  instruction. 
^i  Cor.  iii.  i6;  i  Thess.  v.  ii,  14. 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  33 

overtaken  in  a  fault,  his  brethren  are  not  rudely  to  thrust  him 
out  of  the  Church,  but  to  restore  him  in  a  spirit  of  meekness,  re- 
membering' each  his  own  liability  to  the  power  of  temi>tation/ 
Christians  shall  confess  their  sins  one  to  another,  and  pray  one 
for  another,  that  they  may  be  forgiven  and  made  spiritually 
whole."  Each  is  to  treat  the  rest  with  a  genuinely  Christlike 
kindness;  that  is  the  ideal.  "Receive  ye  one  another,  even  as 
Christ  also  received  you,  to  the  glory  of  God.'" 

But  fonnative  discipline  may  also  be  official.  It  is  ministered 
by  the  Church  through  regularly  constituted  Christian  ordinances 
— through  preaching,  teaching,  hymns,  prayers,  sacraments — and 
in  pastoral  care  and  leadership. 

2.  Corrective  Discipline  in  the  New  Testament  Period — 
Personal,  Official. 

But  in  the  case  of  unfaithfulness  and  disobedience,  the  neglect 
or  vio'lation  of  law,  there  will  ensue  in  every  well-ordered  society 
some  ministration  of  reproof,  restraint,  or  penalty,  which  is  cor- 
rective discipline.  Makers  of  discord  and  scandal,  grieving  in- 
stead of  serving  their  fellow-members  of  the  Church,'  must  be 
reformed,  or,  when  nothing  else  will  avail,  put  away. 

This,  too,  may  be  personal,  not  official,  action.  Christian 
brethren  are  enjoined  even  to  withdraw  themselves  from  one  who 
walks  disorderly,  that  he  may  be  made  ashamed,  at  the  same  time 
not  counting  him  as  an  enemy,  but  admonishing  him  as  a 
brother.' 

'Gal.  vi.  I.  ^James  v.  i6. 

'Rom.  XV.  7. 

"We,  then,  the  members  of  thi.s  Church,  do  affectionately  welcome  you 
into  this  household  of  faith.  We  pledge  to  you  our  sympathy,  our  help,  and 
our  prayers  that  you  may  evermore  increase  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
God."     (Form  for  the  Reception  of  Members  in  the  Congregational  Churches.) 

"Brethren,  I  commend  to  your  love  and  care  these  persons  whom  we  this 
day  recognize  as  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Do  all  in  your  power 
to  increase  their  faith,  confirm  their  hope,  and  perfect  them  in  love."  (Charge 
to  the  congregation,  at  the  reception  of  members  into  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal  Church,  South.) 

'1  Cor.  V.  6,  7.     ^2  Thess.  iii.  14,  15.     Cf.  Didache,  cc.  11.  7;  IV.  3:  XV.  3. 

3 


34  Christianity  as  Organij:ed 

Sometimes,  ho\ve\er,  special  methods  must  be  employed.  So 
our  Lord  himself  marked  out  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  an  in- 
jured brother  toward  the  one  who  has  trespassed  against  him, 
and  shows  no  repentant  spirit.'  It  is  evident  that  the  case  here 
supix)sed  is  personal  rather  than  official.  A  brother  has  been 
wronged  by  another;  he  must  try  personally  and  privately  to 
bring  him  to  a  better  mind,  so  as  not  indeed  to  vindicate  his  o>wn 
rights  or  gain  some  advantage  for  himself,  but  to  gain  his  broth- 
er. Failing  in  this,  he  is  to  call  for  the  assistance  of  one  or  two 
other  peacemakers,  and  in  the  last  resort,  not  sitting  as  a  judge 
in  his  own  cause,  to  call  the  whole  local  church  to  his  aid.  And 
in  case  of  final  failure  it  is  not  said  that  the  offender  shall  be  ex- 
communicated, but  that  he  shall  no  longer  be  recognized  as  a 
Christian  brother  by  the  one  against  whom  he  has  sinned.  Is 
excommunication  here  fairly  implied?  Perhaps  so;  but  that 
which  is  explicitly  enjoined  is :  "Let  him  be  unto  thee  as  the 
Gentile  and  the  publican."" 

Then,  too,  there  will  be  official  cases.  For  to  commit  a  wrong 
against  any  member  of  a  church — say  to  slander  him  or  refuse 
him  the  payment  of  a  just  debt — is  to  wrong  the  church,  just  as 
to  trespass  upon  the  rights  of  any  citizen  is  to  trespass  against 
the  State;  and  it  may  be  the  duty  of  the  church  as  such  to  take 
cognizance  of  the  act.  Besides  there  are  sins — such,  for  exam- 
ple, as  drunkenness,  profanity,  or  neglect  of  Christian  ordinances 
— that  are  not  committed  against  any  particular  person,  and  yet, 
because  of  their  general  evil  influence,  must  be  dealt  with  by  the 
Church.  Now  these  strictly  official  cases  seem  also  to  be  recog- 
nized by  our  Lord,  and  the  authority  to  deal  with  them  declared : 
"Verily  I  say  unto  you,  What  things  soever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  what  things  soever  ye  shall  loose 
on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 

'Alatt.   xviii.    15-20. 

*It  by  no  means  follows  that  the  cast-off  offender  must  be  treated  with 
unkindness  or  scorn.  The  law  of  Christ  has  no  such  Hmitation.  He  must 
still  be  the  subject  of  pitying  and  ministering  love.  What  was  Jesus's  treat- 
ment of  Gentiles  and  publicans? 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  35 

This  deeply  significant  word  of  Jesus  was  six)ken  first  to  Simon 
Peter  at  the  time  of  the  Great  Confession,  when  the  power  of 
binding  and  loosing  was  also  called  the  power  of  the  "keys."'  It 
is  now  six>ken  to  the  Twelve,*  and,  as  the  context  strongly  sug- 
gests, to  any  true  Christian  congregation.  Also,  on  the  evening 
of  the  Resurrection,  Jesus  appeared  to  "the  Eleven  gathered  to- 
gether, and  them  that  were  with  them,"  and  said  to  these  as- 
sembled disciples:  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit:  whose  soever  sins 
ye  forgive  they  are  forgiven  unto  them ;  whose  soever  sins  ye 
retain,  they  are  retained.*  Now  it  seems  evident  that  this  au- 
thority to  declare  the  forgiveness  or  the  retention  of  sins  is  the 
same  as  the  authority  to  "bind"  or  "loose,"  or  the  power  of  the 
"keys."  And  we  cannot  fairly  assume  that  it  was  committed 
only  to  the  ten  Apostles  present  at  the  time,  and  not  also  to 
"them  that  were  with  them."  It  seems  to  have  been  committed 
to  the  assembled  disciples,  the  Christian  believers  gathered  to- 
gether in  the  Master's  name,  in  the  midst  of  whom,  according  to 
his  own  word  of  promise,  he  himself  was  standing. 

Indeed,  who  was  Simon  Peter  ?  A  Christian,  the  first  confess- 
ing Christian.  And  we  have  the  best  reason  to  believe  that  it  was 
to  him  as  such,  and  not  as  some  one  receiving  a  peculiar  or 
priestly  authority,  that  Jesus  spoke.  Who  were  the  Apostles? 
Confessing  Christians,  the  first  Christian  church;  and  it  was  to 
them  likewise,  as  such,  that  this  great  word  of  our  Lord  was 
uttered.  It  is  to  the  Christian  congregation,  or  even  to  the  in- 
dividual Christian,  so  far  as  that  congregation  or  that  Christian 
is  in  the  real  fellowship  of  knowledge  and  holy  love  with  Jesus 
Christ,  that  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  are  given. 

But  what  are  we  to  understand  more  particularly  by  the  terms 
"binding"  and  "loosing?"  They  were  already  current  in  the 
rabbinical  dialect,  and  in  our  Lord's  use  of  them  may  be  taken 
to  mean,  first,  the  interpreting  of  the  will  of  God  as  to  what  acts 
are  forbidden  ("bound,"  or  the  "key"  used  to  exclude  them),  and 
what  are  permitted  ("loosed,"  or  the  "key"  used  to  admit  them)  ; 

^Matt.  xvi.  19.       *Matt.  xviii.  i8,  20.       *Cf.  L:i':e  xxiv.  T3-49;  John  xx.  19-23. 


36  Christianity  as   Organized 

and,  secondarily,  the  applying  of  such  interpretation  in  excluding 
persons  from  the  privileges  of  church  membership  or  retaining 
them  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  privileges.  And  as  to  this  in- 
terpretation of  moral  acts  and  its  disciplinary  application  Jesus 
teaches  that,  so  far  as  an  inspired  A^xvstle  or  the  united  company 
of  Apostles  or  Christian  people  gathered  for  worship  and  service, 
are  God's  representative,  being  guided  by  the  Christ  himself,  who 
is  with  them  and  in  them,  their  teachings  and  decisions  will  be 
absolutely  true.  What  is  done  by  them  here  and  now  will  be  an 
expression  of  the  laws  oi  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Shall  we  repeat  this  familiar  bit  of  exegesis  in  a  single  sen- 
tence? The  power  of  the  "keys,"  "binding"  and  "loosing,"  the 
retention  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins — three  names  for  the  same 
thing — as  a  Christian  prerogative,  is  first  interpretative,  and  sec- 
ondarily disciplinary:  as  interpretative,  it  interprets  and  declares 
the  conditions  under  which  the  sinner  is  condemned  or  forgiven, 
according  to  the  gospel;  as  disciplinary,  it  applies  this  interpreta- 
tion in  the  actual  condemnation,  even  though  it  take  the  extreme 
form  of  expulsion  of  a  member  of  the  Church  or  in  his  reten- 
tion in  good  standing  in  its  membership. 

It  may  be  objected  that  this  power  of  the  "keys"  implies  that 
the  Christian  congregation  is  infallible  in  judgment,  which  it  is 
impossible  to  believe.  But  the  answer  is  not  difficult.  The  power 
of  the  "keys"  implies  infallibility  of  judgment  no  more  than  the 
assurance  given  by  our  Lord  in  immediate  connection  with  it — 
"If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heav- 
en"— implies  that  these  two  consenting  disciples  on  their  knees 
are  infallible  in  their  judgment  as  to  what  petitions  are  in  ac- 
cord with  the  Father's  will.  No  more  than  does  Jesus's  assertion, 
"He  that  receiveth  you  receiveth  me,"^  implies  that  his  messen- 
gers are  absolutely  one  and  the  same  with  himself.  No  more 
than  the  apostolic  word,  "Whosoever  is  begotten  of  God  doeth 
no  sin,     .     .     ,     and  he  cannot  sin,""  implies  that  a  child  of 

^Matt.  X.  40.  "i  John  iii.  9. 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  37 

God  is  wholly  and  necessarily  a  sinless  being.  No  more  than 
the  same  Apostle's  assurance  to  the  "little  children"  to  whom  he 
is  writing,  "Ye  need  not  that  any  one  teach  yon,"^  implies  that 
these  young  Christians  were  perfect  in  wisdom  and  in  need  of 
no  instruction  from  any  human  source.  So  far  as  the  two  agree- 
ing disciples  "abide  in  Him,"  their  prayer  will  be  offered  ac- 
cording to  the  Father's  will  and  shall  receive  its  answer.  So  far 
as  the  messenger  of  Christ  "abides  in  Him,"  he  is  one  in  spirit 
and  aim  with  the  message-giver.  So  far  as  the  regenerated  soul 
"abides  in  Him,"  it  will  be  kept  from  all  sin.  So  far  as  spirit- 
ually minded  men  and  women,  even  though  they  be  but  "little 
children"  in  Christ,  "abide  in  Him,"  the  tuition  of  the  one  Teach- 
er will  be  theirs,  and  will  suffice.  In  like  manner,  then,  so  far  as 
a  Christian  congregation  "abides  in  Him,"  its  prohibitions  and 
permissions  will  be  the  very  words  of  Christ  himself;  so  far  as 
it  is  taught  of  the  Spirit,  its  judgment  will  represent  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit.  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit:  whose  soever  sins  ye 
forgive,  they  are  forgiven  unto  them." 

Now  it  is  chiefly  with  the  secondary  meaning  of  this  word  of 
Jesus  that  we  are  here  concerned;  not  the  interpretative,  but  the 
disciplinary  power  of  the  "keys."  An  instructive  illustration  of 
it  is  given  in  Paul's  letters  to  the  Corinthians.^  Here  was  a  case 
of  flagrant  immorality,  for  which  expulsion  from  the  Christian 
brotherhood  was  the  penalty.  The  twofold  object  of  the  act  of 
expulsion  was  to  protect  the  Church  from  the  leaven  of  a  cor- 
rupting example,  and  to  restore  the  offender.  The  result  justified 
the  painful  procedure.*  And  the  Apostle's  spirit  of  mingled 
wisdom,  tenderness,  and  firmness  is  still  to  be  followed  as  a  shin- 
ing example  to  every  administrator  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  in 
any  age. 

This  expulsion  was  the  act  of  the  entire  Corinthian  Church,  its 
founder  and  chief  pastor  being  present  in  "spirit"  and  directing 
the  trial.  "Do  not  ye  [ye  as  well  as  I]  judge  them  that  are 
within?"* 

^i  John  ii.  27.  "i  Cor.  v.  6,  5.     2  Cor.  ii.  6-11. 

"i  Cor.  V.  ■'i  Cor.  v.  12.     Cf.  2  Cor.  ii.  6. 


38  Christianity   as   Organi::cd 

Does  it  follow  that  in  all  the  New  Testament  churches  the  ex- 
pulsion of  a  member  was  in  every  instance  the  immediate  act 
of  the  assembled  congregation — the  pastor  or  pastors  simply- 
presiding  at  the  trial?  This  would  be  too  wide  an  inference.  In- 
deed, such  injunctions  as  those  of  the  Apostle  Paul  to  Timothy 
and  Titus  indicate  a  larger  pastoral  authority  in  cases  of  disci- 
pline than  that  of  the  mere  president  of  a  congregational  meet- 
ing: "Against  an  elder  receive  not  an  accusation,  except  at  the 
mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses;"^  "A  man  that  is  heretical  [fac- 
tious] after  a  first  and  second  admonition  refuse."^ 

There  is  also  a  different  sort  of  corrective  discipline,  as  set 
forth  by  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  that  should  not  be  overlooked — 
that,  namely,  of  arbitration.  Suppose  two  brethren  in  Corinth 
to  have  fallen  into  a  serious  misunderstanding.  One.  inr  in- 
stance, claims  the  payment  of  a  debt  which  the  other  does  not 
acknowledge  as  due.  What  shall  be  done?  The  civil  courts  are 
open  and  ready  to  hear  the  cause.  But  the  Apostle  would  not 
have  it  taken  there.  It  were  a  shameful  thing  that  Christians' 
causes  should  be  tried  and  judged  before  a  pagan  tribunal.  Bet- 
ter to  "take  wrong,"  better  to  "be  defrauded."  And  if  there  be 
a  dispute,  it  should  be  settled  within  the  church  itself.  Let  an 
arbitrator  be  appointed,  the  wisest  and  most  reputable  in  the  con- 
gregation ;  and  let  his  decision  be  accepted  as  final :  "Is  it  so,  that 
there  cannot  be  found  an_iong  you  one  wise  man,  who  shall  be 
able  to  decide  between  his  brethren,  but  brother  goeth  to  law  with 
brother,  and  that  before  unbelievers?"* 

Now  in  Christendom,  it  is  obvious,  the  circumstances  of  such 
a  case  are  markedly  different  from  those  of  the  little  Christian 
brotherhood  in  pagan  Corinth ;  and  this  may  call  for  some  modi- 
fication! in  applying  the  apostolic  principle.  But  the  principle 
itself  is  as  true  and  authoritative  now  as  then,  in  Christendom 
as  in  heathendom.  Will  not  any  right-minded  Christians,  ancient 
or  modern,  be  disposed  to  bring  their  difficulty  to  their  ow^n  breth- 
ren for  settlement  rather  than  to  the  civil  courts  ?* 

*i  Tim.  V.  19.  ^Titus  iii.  10.  'i  Cor.  vi.  6. 

*Cf.  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South  (1906).  HI;  302-304. 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  39 

3.  Corrective  Discipline  in  Post-Apostolic  Times. 

In  the  early  Church  corrective  discipline  was  a  very  prominent 
function.  Here,  too,  it  was,  first  of  all,  not  official  but  personal. 
"Let  us  then  also  pray,"  says  Clement  of  Rome,  "for  those  who 
have  fallen  into  any  sin,  that  meekness  and  humility  may  be  given 
to  them.'"  As  to  official  discipline,  almost  no  information  has 
been  transmitted  from  the  sub-apostolic  period."  Yet  a  genera- 
tion or  two  later  it  may  be  seen  in  vigorous  operation.*  It  was 
felt  to  be  an  indis]:>ensable  object  that  the  peace  and  purity  of  the 
Church  should  be  preserved.  The  Christian  community  must  be 
kept  from  contamination  by  the  corrupt  pagan  society  that  sur- 
rounded it,  a  stainless  light,  a  salt  full  of  savor.* 


'Clement  continues:  "Let  us  receive  correction,  beloved,  on  account  of 
which  no  one  should  feel  displeased.  Those  exhortations  by  which  we  ad- 
monish one  another  are  both  good  [in  themselves]  and  highly  profitable,  for 
they  tend  to  unite  us  to  the  will  of  God."     (To  the  Corinthians,  c.  56.) 

Cf.  the  Didache,  c.  15 :  "And  reprove  one  another,  not  in  anger  but  in 
peace,  as  ye  have  it  in  the  Gospel ;  but  to  every  one  that  acts  amiss  against 
another,  let  no  one  speak,  nor  let  him  hear  aught  from  yon  till  he  repent.^ 
Which,  hov/ever,  is  not  the  New  Testament  teaching  (2  Thess.  iii.  14,  15). 

^The  following  passages  represent  almost  all  the  direct  information  on  the 
subject: 

"Submit  3'ourselves  to  the  presbyters,  and  receive  correction  so  as  to 
repent.  .  .  .  For  it  is  better  for  you  that  ye  should  occupy  a  humble  but 
honorable  place  in  the  flock  of  Christ,  than  that,  being  highly  exalted,  ye 
should  be  cast  out  from  the  hope  of  his  people."     (Clement  of  Rome,  c.  57.) 

"Who  are  those  whom  they  reject  and  cast  away?  These  are  they  who 
have  sinned,  and  wish  to  repent.  On  this  account  they  have  been  thrown 
from  the  tower,  because  they  will  yet  be  useful  in  the  building  if  they  re- 
pent."    (Hermas,  Vis.  III.,  c.  5.) 

^"For  with  a  great  gravity  is  the  task  of  judging  carried  on  among  us,  as 
liefits  those  who  feel  assured  that  they  are  in  the  sight  of  God;  and  you  have 
the  most  notable  example  of  judgment  to  come  when  any  one  has  sinned  so 
grievously  as  to  require  his  severance  from  us  in  prayer,  in  the  congregation, 
and  in  all  sacred  intercourse.  The  tried  men  of  our  elders  preside  over  us, 
obtaining  that  honor  not  by  purchase  but  by  established  authority."  (Ter- 
tullian,  Apol.,  c.  39.) 

*Tertullian  makes  discipline  one  strand  of  the  threefold  cord  that  binds 
the  Christians  of  his  day  together:  "We  Christians  are  one  body,  knit  to- 
gether by  a  common  religious  profession,  by  a  unity  of  discipline,  and  by  the 
bond  of  a  common  vow."     (Apology,  39.) 

Cf.   Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian   Churches,"  pp.  69-72. 


40  Christianity  as   Organised 

In  the  administration  of  discipline,  so  far  as  the  records  show, 
the  sovereignty  of  the  congregation  as  a  whole  was  maintained. 
The  proper  officers  must  preside,  but  the  infliction  of  punish- 
ment was  not  their  act  alone ;  it  was  congregational/ 

Two  principal  grades  of  ecclesiastical  penalty  were  pronounced 
against  offenders.  The  lesser  excommunication  was  inflicted  for 
the  less  heinous  sins,  which  came  to  be  designated  as  "venial." 
It  excluded  from  the  sight  of  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 

2 

per. 

The  greater  excommunication  was  inflicted  for  the  more  hein- 
ous sins,  such  as  theft,  blasphemy,  adultery,  idolatry,  murder, 
which  came  to  be  called  "mortal ;"  and  with  these  were  classed 
heresy  and  schism.  It  excluded  from  attendance  at  all  church 
services  and  even  from  ordinary  social  intercourse  with  the  faith- 
ful. On  rej^entance,  however,  properly  shown  by  prayers,  tears, 
fasting,  almsdeeds,  avoidance  of  sins,  for  a  reasonable  length  of 
time — one,  two,  six,  even  twenty  years — the  outcast  might  be 
restored  to  communion." 

But  there  was  one  exception.  Relapse  into  idolatry  was  felt 
to  be  a  sin  of  so  great  turpitude  as  not  to  be  pardonable  by  the 
Church.  Even  though  it  were  committed,  which  was  likely  to  be 
the  case,  under  stress  of  severe  persecution,  in  the  face  of  torture 
and  death,  and  even  though  the  offender  should  show  unmis- 
takable signs  of  repentance,  he  was  no  more  to  approach  the 
Lord's  table.  He  could,  indeed,  be  received  as  a  catechumen,  but 
not  as  a  communicant.  God  might  forgive  him ;  the  Church  could 
not. 

^Note  again  Tertullian,  Apology,  c.  39. 

^An  indication  of  the  origin  of  this  penalty  appears  as  early  as  the  Didache 
(c.  14)  :  "If  any  have  a  quarrel  with  his  fellow,  let  him  not  join  you  [in  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper]  until  they  are  reconciled." 

'Might  he  be  restored  after  a  second  lapse?  According  to  some  teaching 
of  the  age,  he  could  not.  "If  any  one  is  tempted  by  the  devil,  and  sins  after 
that  great  and  holy  calling  in  which  the  Lord  has  called  his  people  to  ever- 
lasting life,  he  has  opportunity  to  repent  but  once.  But  if  he  should  sin 
frequently  after  this,  and  then  repent,  to  such  a  man  his  repentance  will  be 
of  no  avail;  for  with  difficulty  will  he  live."  (Hermas,  Pastor,  "Command- 
ments,"  IV.,  3.) 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  41 

However,  this  rule,  too,  admitted  of  one  exception.  In  some 
churches  at  least  it  was  held  that  if  a  trusted  prophetic  teacher, 
a  martyr  (a  Christian  who  had  suffered  tortures  for  the  faith, 
and  had  not  recanted),  or  a  confessor  (a  Christian  who  had  been 
brought  to  trial  but  not  tortured,  and  had  proved  faithful),  should 
declare  it  to  be  God's  will  that  the  penitent  be  restored,  this 
might  be  done.  The  word  of  the  Lord,  through  the  mouth  of 
one  thus  empow^ered  by  the  Spirit  of  truth  to  utter  it  might  open, 
even  to  the  penitent  idolater,  the  door  of  readmission  into  the 
Christian  fold/ 

I  have  been  speaking  here  of  the  second  century  and  the  earlier 
years  of  the  third.  About  the  middle  of  the  third  century  this 
question  of  the  restoration  of  "lapsed"  Christians  presented  it- 
self in  an  extremely  acute  form,  especially  in  the  city  of  Car- 
thage. In  fact,  it  here  reached  its  culminating  point,  and  was 
settled  forever.  It  was  the  time  of  the  great  Decian  persecu- 
tion (249-251).  Many  Christians — perhaps  more  than  half  of 
the  Carthaginian  Church — had  sought  to  purchase  safety  by  dis- 
honor. Some  participated  in  the  pagan  sacrifices;  some  bribed 
the  proi>er  officials  to  give  them  a  written  statement  to  the  effect 
that  they  had  so  participated.  Their  hearts  had  failed  them ;  the 
bitterness  of  death  was  too  dreadful  to  be  voluntarily  endured 
even  for  Christ's  sake ;  and  so  they  denied  their  Lord.  But  ere 
long  a  goodly  number  of  these  recreants  heartily  repented  of  their 
apostasy.  What  should  they  do  to  get  back  into  the  Church  ?  In 
the  prisons  were  confessors  not  a  few,  standing  fast  in  their 
integrity.  To  these,  therefore,  went  the  penitents  and  begged  for 
letters  recommending  their  restoration  to  church  fellowship.    And 

^Some,  not  able  to  find  this  peace  in  the  Church,  have  been  used  to  seek 
it  from  the  imprisoned  martyrs.  And  so  you  ought  to  have  it  dwelling  with 
you,  and  to  cherish  it,  and  to  guard  it,  that  you  may  be  able  perhaps  to 
bestow  it  upon  others.     (Tertullian,  "To  the  Martyrs,"  1.) 

"They  [martyrs]  absolved  all,  but  bound  none."  (Letter  from  Gaul,  quot- 
ed by  Eusebius,  H.  E.,  Bk.  V.,  ii..  5.  See  also  Bk.  V..  xviii.,  7,  in  which 
it  is  scoffingly  asked  concerning  certain  pretenders,  whether  the  "prophet" 
forgives  the  sins  of  the  "martyr,"  or  vice  versa.) 


42  Christiamiy   as   Urgaiii::cd 

some  were  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table  on  such  recommenda- 
tions. 

But  through  the  determined  efforts  of  the  chief  ecclesiastical 
statesman  of  the  age,  Thascius  Crecilius  Cyprian,  bishcp  of  Car- 
thage, this  practice  was  discontinued.  The  restoration  of  the 
lapsed  was  declared  to  be  too  serious  a  matter  to  be  decided  by 
the  mere  word  of  kind-hearted  and  importuned  martyrs  or  con- 
fessors. A  long  and  severe  probation  for  the  renewal  of  church 
membership  should  be  required;  and  the  office  bearers  were  the 
proper  persons  to  decide  all  such  cases.^ 

But  this  is  nothing  more  than  would  be  expected  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  power  of  the  office  bearers,  and  especially  of 
the  bishops,  in  the  churches  generally,  had  been  increasing 
through  the  years.  The  bishop  was  coming  to  be  universally  re- 
garded as  a  priest,  and  thereby,  as  well  as  for  other  imaginary 
reasons,  entitled  to  the  exercise  of  absolute  governing  authority. 
Accordingly  the  whole  matter  of  the  restoration  o-f  excommuni- 
cated persons  to  membership  in  the  Church,  whatever  the  offense 
for  which  they  had  been  excommunicated,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  priest-pastor,  or  bishop. 

x\nd  this  restoration  of  penitent  backsliders  now  became  a  very 
elaborate  process.  It  was  similar  to  the  process  of  reception  to 
membership  through  the  catechumenate,  though  more  severe. 
Outcasts  must  do  penance  by  abstaining  from  pleasant  things  and 
by  doing  good  works,  both  which  observances  were  supposed  to 
be  meritorious — chiefly  by  fasting  and  almsgiving.  But,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  they  must  do  public  penance  by  appearing  as  dis- 
tressed penitents  l>efore  the  congregation  and  making  open  con- 
fession of  their  sins.  There  was  thus  developed  the  system  of 
Penitents'  Stations.    Penitents  must  occupy  four  stations  on  their 

*It  was  against  this  official  as  opposed  to  a  prophetic  absolution  that  Ter- 
tullian,  who  had  become  a  Montanist,  protested :  "Exhibit  therefore  even  now 
to  me,  apostolic  sir,  prophetic  evidences,  that  I  may  recognize  your  divine 
virtue,  and  vindicate  to  yourself  the  power  of  remitting  such  mortal  sins. 
.  .  .  The  Church,  it  is  true,  will  forgive  sins :  but  it  will  be  the  Church 
of  the  Spirit,  by  means  of  a  spiritual  man,  not  the  Church  which  consists  of 
a  number  of  bishops."     (Tertullian,  "On  Modesty,"  XXI.) 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  43 

W3V  l^nck  to  fellowship  with  their  brethren  in  the  Church.  And 
they  were  divided  accordingly  into  four  classes :  ( i )  The  "mourn- 
ers," wiio  were  permitted  to  stand  just  outside  the  church  door, 
clad  in  mourning  garments,  but  not  to  enter;  (2)  the  "hearers," 
who  might  stand  within,  so  as  to  hear  the  sermon  and  the  Scripture 
reading;  (3)  the  "kneelers,"  who  might  enter  the  church  and  take 
a  kneeling  posture:  (4)  the  "co-standers,"  who  might  take  their 
places  standing  with  the  rest  of  the  congregation/ 

At  the  end  of  this  course  of  penitential  (observances,  the  re- 
turning backslider  must  make  confession  of  his  sin  before. the 
congregation.  For  as  yet  confession  was  apparenth'  not  even 
thought  of  as  an  auricular,  or  private,  practice ;  it  was  public — 
made  not  in  the  ear  of  any  one  man,  but  to  the  whole  assembly 
of  Christ's  people.  Then  the  pastor  would  lay  his  hands  on  the 
penitent's  head  with  a  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  God  upo-n  him, 
the  congregation  would  greet  him  with  the  kiss  of  reconciliation, 
and  he  was  thus  restored  to  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

4.  Corrective  Discipline  in  Medieval  Times. 

The  next  stage  of  development,  which  we  are  forced  to  char- 
acterize as  a  still  further  departure  from  "the  simplicity  and  the 
purity  that  is  toward  Christ,"  was  in  the  line  of  multitudinism 
and  sacerdotalism,  as  in  the  case  of  the  conditions  of  membership. 
That  is  to  say,  when  everybody  was  received  into  the  Church, 
which  now  became  practically  indistinguishable  from  the  world, 
and  when  unapproachably  above  the  people  rose  the  priest,  wheth- 
er bishop  or  presbyter,  with  the  magical  powers  that  had  super- 
seded the  New  Testament  offices  of  ministration,  the  method  of 
discipline  that  gradually  came  to  be  adopted  was  that  of  private 
confession  and  penance.  By  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  pub- 
lic penance  had  been  completely  discarded,  except  in  the  case  of 

'The  observance  of  the  Penitents'  Stations,  beginning  in  the  early  part  of 
the  fourth  century,  continued  in  the  East  for  about  two  hundred  years,  and 
in  the  West  perhaps  twice  as  long.  Its  decline  was  gradual,  but  cannot  be 
accurately  traced.  (See  Smith  and  Cheatham's  "Dictionary  of  Christian  An- 
tiquities," Art.  Penitence.^ 


44  Christianity  as  Organised 

some  very  atrocious  crime.  The  priest  in  the  confessional  pre- 
scribed the  meritorious  works  to  be  performed  or  sufferings  to 
be  endured  for  tlie  expiation  of  the  sins  confessed. 

Fasts,  ahns,  and  prayers  were  the  commonest  forms  of  pen- 
ance. As  to  how  long  the  penance  must  be  undergone,  the  time 
varied  all  the  way  from  a  few  days  to  a  lifetime. 

Lingering  a  moment  upon  almsgiving,  as  one  of  these  forms 
of  penance,  we  might  ask  as  to  its  effect  upon  the  recipients.  No 
doubt  it  would  increase  the  amount  of  alms.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  would  tend  to  cause  indifference  in  the  mind  of  the  giver 
as  to  whether  the  alms  would  really  benefit  the  recipient  or  not. 
They  might  encourage  him  in  habits  of  idleness  or  vice ;  they 
might  paui>erize  him;  and  still  the  giver's  object — certainly  his 
primary  object — would  be  accomplished  all  the  same.  Because  he 
did  not  give  primarily,  if  at  all,  for  the  sake  of  the  poor  man  but 
for  his  own  sake,  to  atone  for  his  sins.  He  gave  for  the  sake  of 
the  merit  of  the  act  itself;  and  so  the  mere  giving,  apart  from 
any  consideration  of  its  effect  upon  the  recipient,  was  sufficient. 
The  tendency  would  certainly  not  be  toward  a  wise  and  truly 
helpful  administration  of  Christian  beneficence. 

I  have  just  said  that  the  confessional,  as  a  method  of  disci- 
pline, was  adopted  gradually.  The  successive  steps  in  its  adoption 
were  such  as  these :  At  first  the  ^Denitent  would  come  voluntarily 
to  the  priest,  as  a  religious  instructor,  to  learn  what  penance 
must  be  done  in  expiation  of  his  sins.  But  in  order  to  obtain 
this  information  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  tell  what  his  sins 
were ;  he  must  needs  make  confession  of  them ;  and  this  was  the 
origin  of  the  confessional. 

Now  after  the  assigned  penance  had  been  performed,  the  priest 
would  restore  the  penitent  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and 
would  also,  laying  hands  upon  his  head,  pray  over  him  the  prayer 
of  absolution  :  "The  Lord  absolve  thee." 

We  are  to  observe,  then,  that  during  this  period  the  priest  did 
not  undertake  to  forgive  the  penitent  or  to  assure  him  of  God's 
forgiveness,  just  as  the  Church  did  not  undertake  to  do  it  in 
tlie  preceding  period.     He  simply  reconciled  him  to  the  Church, 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  45 

assuring  him  of  its  forgiveness,  and  solemnly  prayed  that  he 
might  be  forgiven  of  God. 

Let  us  make  sure  that  we  do  not  blur  this  distinction.  It  is 
the  distinction  between  a  crime  and  a  sin.  The  same  act,  as  we 
know,  may  be  both — as  committed  against  the  community  a 
crime,  as  committed  against  God  a  sin.  The  civil  community, 
for  instance,  may  punish  and  it  may  also  pardon  the  man  who 
acts  the  thief — may  pardon  him  the  crime.  Has  the  court  sent 
him  to  prison?  The  governor,  who,  equally  with  the  court,  rep- 
resents the  community,  may  restore  him  to  freedom.  So  like- 
wise with  the  ecclesiastical  community  and  its  members.  The 
church  member,  for  instance,  who  has  acted  the  thief  is  guilty 
of  a  crime  against  the  Church;  and  the  Church  may  punish  him, 
and  it  may  also  pardon  him  the  crime.  But  it  cannot  pardon  him 
the  sin.  It  may  indeed  declare  to  him  the  conditions  of  pardon, 
and  may  pray  God  to  forgive  him ;  but  it  cannot  forgive  the 
wrong  which  he  has  perpetrated  against  God  himself. 

"To  whom  ye  forgive  anything,"  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  "I 
forgive  also."^  But  it  is  plain  enough  from  the  context  what 
this  forgiveness  by  the  Corinthian  Church  and  its  chief  pastor 
was.  Xot  the  blotting  out  of  the  expelled  offender's  sin,  but  the 
forgiveness  of  his  crime,  the  receiving  of  him  back  into  the  com- 
munion of  Christ's  people  from  which  he  had  been  excluded. 

It  was  thus,  therefore,  that  the  Church  forgave  offenders  dur- 
ing these  earlier  centuries.  But  in  the  course  of  the  Middle  Age 
the  prayer  of  the  priest  for  the  penitent's  pardon  gave  place,  in 
the  Western  Church  (though  not  in  the  Eastern),  to  the  author- 
itative declaration  of  forgiveness  by  the  priest  as  the  representa- 
tive of  God  himself — '7  absolve  thee."  Thus  it  was  declared  and 
taught  that  both  the  penitent's  relation  to  the  Church  and  his  re- 
lation to  God  were  changed  by  the  word  of  the  priest  from  that 
of  condemnation  to  that  of  forgiveness.  Besides,  the  absolution 
came  to  be  pronounced  not  after  the  penance  had  been  done,  but 
at  the  time  of  confession,  and  on  condition  that  it  should  be  done.^ 

'2  Cor.  ii.   10. 

"By    Leo   the    Great    (4-10-460)    private    confession    was   le2:alized.      Tn    the 


46  Christianity  as   Organii^ed 

And  still  more,  the  expiatory  works  of  penance  mioht  be  done 
by  one  person  for  another.  So  the  debt  was  paid,  it  mattered  not 
by  whom.^  For  have  we  not  been  bidden — such  was  the  argu- 
ment of  Thomas  Aquinas — to  "bear  one  another's  burdens?" 

Can  there  be  any  mistake  as  to  the  nature  of  the  process  here 
going  on?  It  is  one  instance,  among  many,  of  the  ecclesiastical 
corruption  of  Christianity.  Organization,  untrue  to  its  idea  and 
its  name,  instead  of  furnishing  the  religion  of  Jesus  with  organs 
for  the  expression  of  its  life  in  the  world,  is  found  reacting  upon 
it,  oppressing  it,  substituting  it.  Confession  to  God,  says  the 
Scripture,  is  the  way  of  salvation ;  and  the  confession  of  fellow- 
Christians  one  to  another,  with  prayer  for  one  another's  healing, 
is  helpful  to  the  soul.  Confession  to  a  priest,  says  Sacerdotalism, 
is  the  w^ay  of  salvation.  Accordingly,  in  the  Church  of  Rome  to- 
day confession  to  a  priest  is  compulsory  upon  all  its  members, 
from  the  seven-year-old  child  to  the  sovereign  pontiff  in  the 
Vatican.     The  usual  penance  is  a  few  short  prayers." 

eighth  and  ninth  centuries  it  was  made  compulsory.  In  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  confirmed  the  practice,  and  ordered  that 
private  confession  be  made  to  a  priest  at  least  once  a  year.  In  this  .same 
century  the  form  of  absolution  was  changed  from  the  prayer,  "The  Lord 
absolve  thee,"  to  the  authoritative  declaration,  "I  absolve  thee."  (See  the 
Schafif-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Art.  Confession  of  Sins.) 

'"But  vicarious  penance  is  also  found  to  exist,  and  is  bought.  It  is  under- 
taken^c.  g.,  by  a  thrall  for  his  deceased  master,  after  freedom  has  been 
assured  him  in  reward  for  it."  (Moeller,  "History  of  the  Church,  Middle 
Ages,"  p.  219. ") 

"To  do  justice  to  the  doctrine  of  the  "sacrament  of  penance,"  it  must  be 
noted  (i)  that  contrition  is  required,  on  the  part  of  the  penitent,  as  well  as 
confession  and  satisfaction;  and  (2)  that  while  the  penitent  must  offer  satis- 
faction for  his  own  sins,  in  addition  to  the  atonement  made  for  them  by  the 
Divine  Saviour,  that  satisfaction  itself  is  believed  to  be  made,  just  as  every 
good  work  is  done,  through  Christ.  "But  neither  is  this  .satisfaction  which 
we  discharge  for  our  sins  so  our  own  as  not  to  be  through  Jesus  Christ. 
.  .  .  Thus  man  has  not  wherein  to  glory,  but  all  our  glorying  is  in  Christ ; 
in  whom  we  live;  in  whom  we  merit;  in  whom  we  satisfy."  (Council  of 
Trent,  Sess.  xiv.,  c.  8.) 

On  the  other  hand,  the  distinction  between  theory  and  practice  must  be 
noted.  Practically  the  stress  of  attention  is  laid  upon  the  supposed  ex- 
piatory  merit   of  the   vrorks   of  penance,   and   not   upon   tlie   contritimi   of  the 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  47 

5.  Indulgences. 

Here  arose  the  idea  of  "indiiloences."  Nor  was  it  the  growth 
of  a  night,  to  perish  heneath  the  first  hot  sun  of  criticism  or  of 
Christian  truth.  It  grew  up  Httle  by  httle  through  centuries,  and 
it  has  mightily  persisted  in  the  Church  of  Rome  through  cen- 
turies following. 

At  first  an  indulgence  was  only  a  commutation  of  i>enance. 
For  example,  a  fast  of  forty  days,  inflicted  as  a  penance,  might 
be  substituted  if  the  penitent's  health  seemed  to  require  it — or 
even  if  it  did  not — by  almsgiving  or  perhaps  by  the  repetition  of 
a  number  of  prayers.  Thus  the  penance  could  be  commuted,  and 
the  something  else  accepted  in  its  place  might  be  called  an  indul- 
gence ( iiuiulgcntia,  a  remission  of  taxes,  a  remission  of  punish- 
ment). 

But  in  the  course  of  time  an  indulgence  came  to  be  regarded 
not  as  a  commutation  of  penance,  which  was  believed  to  be  a 
satisfaction  for  sin,  removing  its  guilt  and  eternal  punishment, 
but  simply  as  a  remission  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  the 
sin  even  after  penance  had  done  its  work.  From  the  proposition 
that  the  Church  had  power  given  her  of  God  to  assign  penance 
for  the  expiation  of  sin  the  logical  flight  was  made,  apparently, 
that  this  same  Church  had  power  to  remit,  for  a  suitable  consid- 
eration, some  portion,  or  even  the  whole,  of  the  temporal  punish- 
ment which  God  inflicts  for  sin. 

But  this  temporal  punishment  extends,  so  it  was  taught,  into 
the  unseen  world — for  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  a  place  of  puri- 
fication from  sin  through  suffering  after  the  present  life,  was 
also  coming  into  acceptance  as  an  article  of  faith.     Therefore  the 

heart  or  the  relation  of  this  human  merit  to  the  merit  and  glory  of  Christ 
"In  the  theological  treatment  of  the  subject,  it  is  true  .  .  .  the  penitence 
of  the  heart  and  painful  regret  are  theoretically  emphasized  as  the  necessary 
presupposition  of  their  saving  fruit;  but  the  conception,  which  descended 
from  the  ancient  Church,  of  penance  as  a  satisfaction  which  was  to  be  of- 
fered to  the  Church,  and  ultimately  to  God  himself,  necessarily  exerted  an 
externalizing  influence.  .  .  .  Stress  is  laid  upon  the  individual  trans- 
gression and  its  expiation,  but  not  upon  the  inward  disposition."'  (Moeller, 
"History  of  the  Church,  Middle  Ages,"  p.  218.) 


48  Christianity   as   Organised 

Churcli  claimed  authority  to  shorten,  or  even  wholly  to  remit, 
through  indulgences,  the  pains  of  purgatory  itself. 

But  how  could  the  claim  thus  to  effect  and  declare  such  a  de- 
liverance of  the  soul  from  the  just  judgment  of  God  now  and 
hereafter  be  explained  and  justified?  Here  the  idea  of  "the 
treasure  of  the  Church"  was  called  for,  and  began  to  take  form 
and  appear.  In  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  elaborated  by  Thom- 
as Aquinas  (1227-74),  the  greatest  of  medieval  doctors  of  the- 
ology ;  and  without  being  formulated  by  any  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cil, it  also  became  an  article  of  faith. 

What,  then,  did  it  mean — this  doctrine  of  the  treasure  of  the 
Church?  It  meant  that  there  was  a  fund  of  merit  consisting  of 
the  merits  of  saints,  both  in  this  world  and  in  hea\-en,  who  had 
done  more  good  works  than  were  necessary  to  procure  their  own 
salvation,  the  merits  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and,  to  supply  any 
deficiency,  the  infinite  merits  of  Christ  himself.  To  the  store- 
house of  this  treasure  the  Church,  in  the  person  of  her  supreme 
pontiff,  held  the  key.^  The  pope  could  apply  to  the  souls  of 
Roman  Catholics  such  a  portion  of  these  merits  as  this  or  that 
soul  might  need.  An  indulgence,  then,  is  "a  remission  in  whole 
or  in  part,  through  the  superabundant  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  saints,  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  God  on  account  of 
sin,  after  the  guilt  and  eternal  punishment  have  been  remitted."* 
But  what  were  the  conditions  on  which  this  transfer  of  merit 
might  be  made — in  other  words,  on  which  an  indulgence  might 
be  obtained?  They  were  such,  for  example,  as  making  a  pil- 
grimage to  some  holy  place,  enlisting  in  a  crusade,  or,  very  com- 
monly, giving  a  sum  of  money  to  some  pious  object. 

Nor  was  this  all.  The  pope  claimed  the  power  to  release 
through  indulgences  souls  already  in  purgatory.     He  could  do 

^"The  pitiless  logic  of  Aquinas  established  the  papal  supremacy.  As  in- 
dulgences were  extra-sacramental  and  no  longer  a  matter  of  orders  but  of 
jurisdiction,  and  as  the  treasure  required  a  guardian  who  would  prevent  its 
squandering,  the  pope  alone  was  its  keeper;  whoever  else  dispensed  it  could 
only  do  so  by  delegation  from  him,  limited  as  he  might  see  fit."  (Lea,  "Con- 
fession and  Indulgences,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  ?7-^ 

^Gibbons,  "The  Faith  of  Our  Father^,"  p.  3S5. 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  49 

it  unconditionally,  as  a  free  gift  to  them,  or  he  could  do  it  in  the 
customary  way,  which  was  on  condition  of  a  money  payment 
("alms")  by  some  one  willing  thus  to  buy  the  indulgence  for 
them/  For  this  unseen  world,  with  its  awful  pains  and  penalties, 
let  it  be  remembered,  was  also  included  in  the  territory  and  under 
the  dominion  of  the  pope.  WHio  would  not  pay  a  sum  of  money 
to  be  saved  from  going  there,  or,  if  he  had  the  heart  of  a  human 
being,  to  save  a  friend  who  was  already  there  and  pleading  for 
deliverance  ? 

Indulgences  were  advertised  or  were  hawked  about  in  the 
streets  and  the  country  places.  So  much  money  for  so  much 
Divine  remission  of  punishment  for  sin,  either  here  or  hereafter, 
and  either  for  one's  self  or  for  one's  friends.  The  sale  of  them 
was  acknowledged  by  the  Council  of  Trent  to  have  been  attended 
with  grave  abuses — as,  for  example,  in  the  case  of  the  monk 
Tetzel  soliciting  funds  under  authority  of  Leo  X.  for  the  com- 
pletion of  St.  Peter's  Cathedral."  But  it  was  the  abuse  of  an 
abuse,  of  the  fearful  fundamental  abuse  of  offering  the  grace  of 
God  as  an  article  of  merchandise,  the  barest  account  of  which 
one's  hand  hesitates,  as  if  it  were  quoting  blasphemy,  to  write 
down. 

Here  flew  the  electric  spark  that  kindled  into  flame  the  Lu- 
theran Reformation. 


^Lea,  "Confession  and  Indulgences,"  Vol.  III.,  pp.  351-354. 

*The  Council  of  Trent,  in  its  "Decree  Concerning  Indulgences,"  giving 
no  definition  of  indulgences  and  deciding  none  of  the  vexed  questions  con- 
cerning them,  "condemns  with  anathema  those  who  either  assert  that  they 
are  useless,  or  who  deny  that  there  is  in  the  Church  the  power  of  granting 
them,"  and  desires  that  in  granting  them  "moderation  be  observed,"  and  that 
"the  abuses  that  have  crept  therein  and  by  occasion  of  which  the  honorable 
name  of  Indulgences  is  blasphemed  bj'  heretics,  be  amended  and  corrected." 

4 


IV. 

SOCIAL  DEPENDENCE:  DISCIPLINE,  ORGANIZED 
FELLOWSHIP. 

There  was  another  disciplinary  procedure  which  in  certain 
times  and  places  was  no  less  familiar  than  fearsome.  It  was  a 
procedure  in  which  Church  and  State  were  united  in  inflicting 
punishment  for  offenses  against  religion.  Such  offenses  were 
accounted  crimes  against  the  State,  and  dealt  with  accordingly. 
Condemned  by  the  Church,  men  were  fined  or  whipped  or  im- 
prisoned or  put  to  death  for  them.  Especially  to  be  noted  is  the 
law  of  those  States  which  made  burning  alive  the  punishment  of 
heretics. 

This  kind  of  discipline  may  be  traced  back  to  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  alliance  between  Church  and  State.  Constantine  the 
Great  announced  a  decree  of  banishment  against  those  who  re- 
fused to  sign  the  Nicene  creed,  and  of  death  against  readers  of 
the  works  of  Arius.  His  successors  on  the  imperial  throne  fol- 
lowed a  similar  rule  of  action.  In  our  modern  age  also  the  in- 
fliction of  various  corporal  pains  and  penalties  for  errors  in  re- 
ligion used  to  be  almost  universally  accepted  as  a  righteous  law 
of  the  Christian  State.  It  was  found  in  the  statute  books  of  even 
Protestant  peoples.  Nor  did  it  appear  there  as  a  mere  dead  let- 
ter. Both  in  the  New  W^orld  and  in  the  Old  it  was  frequently 
and  severely  executed.  The  story  of  our  American  colonies  fur- 
nishes some  lamentable  examples. 

Not  only  in  statute  books  of  the  Christian  State,  but  also  in  the 
beliefs  of  the  very  best  Christians,  it  lingered.  In  approval  of 
this  law  such  men  as  the  saintly  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  the  spir- 
itually charming  Fenelon,  and  the  mild,  scholarly  Melancthon,  it 
must  be  admitted,  kept  company  with  each  other  and  as  well  with 
the  Council  of  Constance  and  the  Grand  Monarch  of  France. 
For  the  idea  of  religious  liberty,  nov^  so  familiar — and,  shall  we 
say,  so  world-wide  in  its  prevalence  ? — had  to  fight  its  way  slow- 
*  50) 


Social  Dependence:  Discipline  51 

ly,  and  at  much  cost  of  mental  anguish  and  of  precious  blood, 
to  enthronement  in  men's  minds.  So  the  ecclesiastical  court  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  for  example,  not  only  excommunicated  the 
condemned  heretic,  but  also  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  the 
magistrate  to  be  burned  at  the  stake. 

Shall  we  ask  for  the  idea  of  so  unfitting  a  form  of  punish- 
ment— the  motives  that  disposed  even  good  men  to  approve  it? 
One  motive,  no  doubt,  was  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  souls  by 
the  man  who  with  his  persistent  heresies  would  destroy  them, 
and  to  terrorize  any  others  who  might  be  disposed  to  follow  in 
his  steps.  Another  motive  Avas  to  effect  and  preserve,  in  both 
Church  and  State,  an  unbroken  outward  unity. 

I.  Discipline  Emphasized  in  Protestant  Reformation, 

AND  Why. 

But  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation  recognized  the  exercise 
of  discipline,  for  the  most  part,  in  its  true  value  and  significance.* 
In  some  Protestant  confessions  of  faith  it  is  even  given,  to- 
gether with  the  administration  of  sacraments,  as  one  of  the  three 
marks  of  the  true  Church. "^  Nor  is  this  surprising  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  Reformation  was,  in  spirit  and  aim,  a  reforma- 
tion of  morals  no  less  truly  than  of  religious  rites  and  doctrines. 
It  was  against  the  demoralizing  influence  of  indulgences  that 
Luther's  first  heroic  protest  was  made.  And  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic revival  that  followed  the  reformatory  movement  it  was  not 
the  rites  or  the  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Church,  but  its  disci- 
pline, that  was  amended. 

^"As  the  saving  doctrine  of  Christ  is  the  soul  of  the  Church,  so  does  dis- 
cipline form  the  ligaments  which  connect  the  members  together  to  keep  each 
in  its  place.  Whoever,  therefore,  either  desires  the  abolition  of  all  disci- 
pline, or  obstructs  its  restoration,  whether  they  act  from  design  or  inadvert- 
ency, they  certainly  promote  the  entire  dissolution  of  the  Church."  (Calvin, 
"Institutes,"  Bk.  IV.,  c.  xii.,  Sec.  i.     Cf.  "Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.") 

""The  marks  by  which  the  true  Church  is  known  are  these :  If  the  pure 
doctrine  of  the  gospel  is  preached  therein ;  if  she  maintains  the  pure  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments  as  instituted  by  Christ;  if  church  discipline 
is  exercised  in  the  punishing  of  sin."  ("The  Belgic  Confession  (1561),"  Art. 
XXIX.    See  also  the  Scotch  "Confession  of  Faith  (1560),"  Art.  XVIII.) 


52  Christian  if  y   as   Organised 

2.  Illustration  Found  in  Calvinian  Discipline,  in 
Independency,  and  in  Methodism. 

Let  us  take  the  disciplinary  procedure  of  John  Calvin,  set  forth 
in  the  "Institutes"  and  embodied,  though  imperfectly,  in  his  own 
ecclesiastic  administration,  as  fairly  representing  that  of  Protes- 
tantism in  general.  Here  the  course  of  discipline  consists  in,  first, 
private  admonition  (unless  the  sin  be  public  and  notorious)  by 
any  brother  Christian,  but  especially  by  the  pastor  and  the  pres- 
byters; next,  if  necessary,  a  second  admonition,  in  the  presence 
of  w^itnesses;  then,  if  these  prove  unavailing,  a  summons  before 
the  presbyters,  who  constitute  the  tribunal  of  the  Church,  for 
more  severe  admonition;  and,  finally,  if  the  offender,  refusing  to 
obey  the  church,  persist  in  his  wrongdoing,  exclusion  from  mem- 
bership.^ In  the  case  of  notorious  crimes  recourse  must  be  had 
at  once  to  exclusion.  In  it  all  the  severity  of  the  church  should 
be  tempered  with  clemency ;  and  the  excommunicated  member 
must  not  be  given  up  as  hopelessly  lost,  but  won  back,  if  possible, 
to  the  communion  of  Christ  and  his  people.'' 

But  in  the  application  of  these  scriptural  principles  and  meth- 
ods in  the  Genevan  Church,  Calvin  met  with  serious  difficulty. 
On  the  whole,  his  undertaking  failed;  and  one  explanation,  at 
least,  of  its  failure  may  be  found  in  that  cause  of  demoralization 
which  we  have  just  now  had  occasion  to  notice — in  the  alliance 
of  Church  and  State.  The  same  cause  has  also  been  operative 
in  the  same  direction  in  the  various  national  Protestant  Churches 
of  Europe — Lutheran,  Reformed,  and  Anglican — even  unto  this 
day.  Must  not  such  a  failure  be  inevitable,  where  the  Christian 
idea  of  the  Church  as  the  communion  of  saints  is  exchanged  for 
the  political  idea  of  the  body  politic  as  a  church  ? 

It  was  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  godly  discipline,  which 
seemed  impossible  then,  as  it  seems  now,  in  the  Anglican  Church, 

*It  will  be  seen  that  the  course  prescribed  by  our  Lord  for  the  individual 
Ghristian  who  has  been  wronged  by  his  brother,  is  here  adopted  as  the  course 
of  administration  of  discipline  by  the  church.  Cf.  "Discipline  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South  (1906),"  p.  130. 

'"Institutes,"  Bk.  IV.,  c.  xii.,  8. 


Social  Dependence:  FclIozi'sJiip  53 

that  Separatism,  or,  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  Independency, 
arose.  Hence  Independency  would  have  church  members  walk 
together  for  mutual  edification,  and  the  church,  or  congregation, 
as  a  whole,  to  call  wrongdoers  to  account  under  the  method  pre- 
scribed by  Christ  for  the  ofYended  and  the  offending  brother.^ 

Methodism,  which,  like  Independency,  had  its  origin  in  the 
English  Establishment,  offers  a  peculiar  example  of  church  dis- 
cipline in  connection  with  Christian  fellowship.  It  began  as,  in 
more  than  the  ordinary  sense,  a  social  religious  institute.  Its 
membership,  gathered  in  large  measure  from  the  illiterate  and 
neglected  classes  of  the  people,  and  as  individuals  rather  than 
as  families,  found  a  congenial  church-home  in  the  "societies." 
Having  no  regular  and  complete  ministerial  service,  they  were 
largely  dependent  on  one  another  for  spiritual  upbuilding.  In 
these  circumstances  the  class  meeting  arose,  not  through  design 
or  foresight,  but  incidentally,  as  the  providential  supply  for  a 
manifest  need.  All  members  of  a  society  must  be  enrolled  as 
members  of  some  class,  which  held  weekly  meetings  for  the  in- 
terchange of  religious  experiences  and  to  receive  the  counsels  of 
the  leader.     Fellowship  was  organized.* 

'"The  censures  so  appointed  by  Christ  are  admonition  and  excommunica- 
tion ;  and  whereas  some  offenses  are  or  may  be  known  only  to  some,  it  is  ap- 
pointed by  Christ  that  those  to  whom  they  are  so  known  do  first  admonish 
the  offender  in  private  (in  pnbHc  offenses  where  they  sin,  before  all),  and 
in  case  of  non-amendment  upon  private  admonition,  the  offense  being  related 
to  the  church,  and  the  offender  not  manifesting  his  repentance,  he  is  to  be 
duly  admonished  in  the  name  of  Christ  by  the  whole  Church;  and  if  this 
censure  avail  not  for  his  repentance,  then  he  is  to  be  cast  out  by  excom- 
munication, with  the  consent  of  the  Church."  ("The  Savoy  Declaration 
(1658)   of  Church  Order,"  Art.  XIX.) 

'Wesley  wrote  concerning  the  class  meeting,  soon  after  its  origination  in 
his  societies :  "It  can  scarcely  be  conceived  what  advantages  have  been  reaped 
by  this  little  prudential  regulation.  Many  now  experienced  that  Christian 
fellowship  of  which  they  had  not  so  much  as  an  idea  before.  They  began 
to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  and  naturally  to  care  for  each  other's  welfare. 
And  as  they  had  daily  a  more  intimate  acquaintance,  so  they  had  a  more 
endeared  affection  for  each  other.  Upon  reflection,  I  could  not  but  observe, 
this  is  the  very  thing  which  was  from  the  beginning  of  Christianity."  (Tyer-: 
man.  "Life  of  Wesley,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  379.) 


54  Christianity  as   Organised 

These  societies,  moreover,  were  not  a  church  but  societies  only, 
supplementing  the  ministrations  of  the  Church  of  England.  To 
join  such  a  communion  or  to  be  expelled  from  it  did  not  affect 
one's  church  relations.  Hence  si^ecial  rules  of  conduct  might  be 
required  of  its  members,  such  as  could  not  properly  be  enforced 
as  conditions  of  membership  in  a  Christian  church. 

Regular  attendance  uix>n  class  meeting  was  a  rule  which  thus 
became  a  condition  of  membership  in  the  societies.  It  was  felt 
that  only  thus  could  that  holy  and  happy  type  of  piety  for  which 
they  had  been  instituted  be  realized.  And  one  can  hardly  imagine 
how  greater  emphasis  could  have  been  laid  upon  the  value  of 
social  dependence  in  religion. 

But  when,  about  half  a  century  afterwards,  first  in  America 
and  then  in  Great  Britain,  the  societies  were  organized  into 
churches,  with  an  ordained  ministry  and  the  regular  administra- 
tion of  sacraments,  the  former  conditions  of  membership,  and 
along  with  the  rest  the  attendance  upon  class-meeting,  were  re- 
tained.^ Here,  however,  a  distinctly  different  principle  was  in- 
volved, and  apparently  overlooked :  Shall  a  Church  of  Christ  cast 

^The  rule  as  formerly  laid  clown  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  is  as  follows :  "What  shall  be  done  with  those  mem- 
bers of  our  Church  who  willfully  and  repeatedly  neglect  to  meet  their  class? 
Let  the  elder,  deacon,  or  one  of  the  preachers  visit  them  whenever  it  is 
practicable,  and  explain  to  them  the  consequences  if  they  continue  to  neg- 
lect— namely,  exclusion.  If  they  do  not  amend,  let  him  who  has  charge  of 
the  circuit  or  station  bring  their  case  before  the  society  or  a  select  number, 
before  whom  they  shall  have  been  cited  to  appear;  and  if  they  be  found 
guilty  of  willful  neglect  by  a  majority  of  the  members  before  whom  the  case 
is  brought,  let  them  be  laid  aside,  and  let  the  preacher  show  that  they  are 
excluded  for  a  breach  of  our  rules,  and  not  for  immoral  conduct." 

The  present  rule  simply  includes  the  class  meeting  with  public  worship, 
the  prayer  meeting,  and  other  means  of  grace,  the  penalty  for  the  willful 
neglect  of  any  of  which  is  expulsion. 

In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  the  General  Conference  of 
1866  did  away  with  attendance  upon  class  meeting  as  a  condition  of  mem- 
bership in  the  church. 

In  the  British  Wesleyan  Church  members  are  still  required  to  attend  class 
meeting  as  a  condition  of  remaining  in  the  Church.  The  requirement,  how- 
ever, is  not  strictly  enforced;  and  of  late  years  there  has  been  a  strong  in- 
fluence toward  making  attendarce  voluntary. 


Social  Dependence:  Fellowship  55 

out  otie  of  her  members  for  the  neglect  of  any  other  than  a 
Divinely  instituted  ordinance?  shall  the  neglect  of  what  has  been 
described  by  its  organizer  himself  as  simply  a  most  valuable 
"little  prudential  regulation"  be  taken  as  a  sufficient  cause  for 
expulsion  ?' 

Nevertheless  this  simple  "prudential  regulation"  proved  to  be 
singularly  effective  for  "that  which  is  good,  unto  edifying."  The 
Christian  watch-care  and  fellowship  which  it  secured  were  of 
inestimable  value ;  and  where,  as  in  the  great  majority  of  in- 
stances, it  has  been  discontinued,  no  adec[uate  substitute  has  yet 
been  found.* 

3.   Present-Day  Laxity  of  Discipline. 

The  well-nigh  universal  disciplinary  tendency  in  the  churches 
at  the  present  time  is  toward  the  extreme  of  undue  laxity. 
Doubtless  there  have  been  Donatists,  Independents,  Puritans, 
Methodists,  and  others  that  have  held  overstrict  views  of  eccle- 

'Gregory,  in  his  Fernley  Lectures  ("The  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the 
Communion  of  Saints"),  argues  strongly  but  not  conclusively,  I  think,  for 
the  retention  of  the  class-meeting  test  of  membership  in  the  Church.  His 
position  is  shown  in  the  following  passage  (p.  235)  :  "It  is  objected  that  the 
Methodists  have  no  right  to  insist  upon  meeting  in  class  as  a  sine  qua  noa 
of  membership ;  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  not  demand  meeting  in  class ; 
therefore  Methodism  has  no  right  to  require  it.  With  all  due  deference  we 
must  submit  that  this  objection  arises  from  a  superficial  view  of  the  case. 
What  Methodism  insists  on  is  veritable  fellowship  and  effective  oversight — 
bona  fide  fellowship  as  an  institution,  the  fulfillment  of  the  repeated  apos- 
tolic injunctions  to  that  effect  and  the  imitation  of  the  primitive  Church  in 
this  practice — effective  oversight,  the  watching  for  souls  'as  they  that  must 
give  account.'  Now  this,  if  done  effectively  and  systematically  at  all,  must 
be  done  by  some  definite  arrangement  or  other;  and  the  class  meeting  is 
admittedly  the  best  way  that  has  yet  been  devised." 

-"Is  it  not  clear  that  we  profoundly  need  something  approaching  the  over- 
sight and  the  personal  dealing  of  the  old-time  class  leader?  .  .  .  We  can- 
not go  back  to  the  class-meeting  test.  But  we  do  need  some  substitute  for 
it,  some  definition  of  the  duties  of  Church  membership  that  will  make  the 
careless,  selfish,  stingy  man  feel  himself  out  of  placo  in  the  Church,  and  some 
provision  for  so  enforcing  upon  every  member  these  conditions  of  his  mem- 
bership as  shall  give  back  to  the  Church  once  more  the  semblance  at  least 
of  a  self-respecting  discipline."     (Christian  Advocate   (Nashville),   1907.) 


56  Christianity  as  Organised 

siastic  discipline.  But  where  shall  we  look  for  overstrictness 
now?  And  to  assert  of  any  church  that  it  exercises  practically 
no  discipline  upon  its  members,  is  to  place  it  under  a  grievous 
condemnation.  Because  the  need  is  unquestionable.  It  is  not 
only  shown  in  the  New  Testament  and  exemplified  in  the  whole 
course  of  organized  Christianity,  but  is  apparent  from  the  very 
idea  of  a  social  organization.  For  no  society  can  be  perpetuated, 
or  even  formed,  without  laws,  which  are  simply  uniform  modes 
of  action ;  and  the  violation  of  law  must  needs  involve  |>enalty.' 

Moreover,  as  in  the  physical  realm  law  and  penalty  are  of 
necessity  physical,  and  in  the  moral  world  moral,  so  in  the  social 
world  they  are  social.  Here  the  transgressor  breaks  the  ties  that 
bind  him  to  the  society;  in  spirit  he  puts  himself  out,  for  "what- 
e^'er  a  man  does  he  does  to  himself."  And  so  the  outward  cen- 
sures which  the  society  may  visit  upon  him,  from  the  slightest 
reproof  to  the  extreme  penalty  of  excision,  are  but  the  formally 
expressed  social  consequences  of  his  personal  conduct. 

The  need  of  administrative  wisdom,  also,  is  imperative.  Al- 
ways must  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  church  exists  for  its  mem- 
bers, and  not  the  members  for  the  church.  Also  that  "in  many 
things  we  all  stumble."  The  parable  of  the  Wheat  and  the  Tares 
is  our  Lord's  perpetual  warning  against  such  a  treatment  of  the 
unworthy  as  shall  seriously  injure  the  faithful. 

Besides,  ecclesiastical  censures  are  subject  to  the  embarrassing 
limitation  that  it  is  only  the  open  sins,  which  are  not  necessarily 
the  worst,  for  which  they  can  be  inflicted.  The  case  of  the  profli- 
gate is  plain ;  the  case  of  the  often  more  culpable  hypocrite  is  diffi- 

^"That  the  maintenance  of  discipline  may  be  regarded  as  a  thing  abso- 
lutel}'^  necessary,  not  only  for  the  good  order  of  the  congregation  but  also 
for  its  well-being  and  prosperity,  will  certainly,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  be 
contradicted  by  no  one.  Though  this  maintenance  may  be  temporarily  im- 
peded, whether  by  or  apart  from  the  Church's  own  fault  [through  the  union 
of  Church  and  State,  for  example],  its  continued  neglect  is  tantamount  to 
a  sentence  of  death  pronounced  by  the  congregation  on  itself.  It  cannot 
and  must  not  have  peace  with  that  which  is  to  the  Church  a  dishonor,  to 
the  world  a  scandal,  to  the  Lord  a  grief."  (Van  Oosterzee,  "Pastoral  The- 
ology," English  translation,  p.  538.") 


Social  Dependence:  Fellowship  57 

cult.  The  worldliness  that  takes  the  form  of  corrupting  amuse- 
ments is  manifest ;  the  worldhness  that  consists  in  the  idolatry 
of  money  hides  itself  under  more  subtle  forms.  The  neglect  of 
church  ordinances  will  not  be  denied ;  the  neglect  of  the  duties 
of  home  life  will  less  readily  be  acknowledged,  and  less  easily 
proved  by  witnesses.  "Man  looketh  upon  the  outward  appear- 
ance, but  Jehovah  looketh  upon  the  heart."  "One  only  is  the 
lawgiver  and  judge,  even  He  who  is  able  to  save  and  to  destroy." 

Whatever  is  done  needs  to  be  done  in  love,  as  a  father  or  a 
mother  with  bleeding  heart  punishes  the  disobedient  child.  Very 
tenderly — with  a  true  "motherly  tenderness  and  a  hatred  of  put- 
ting away" — is  any  censure  to  be  inflicted,  lest  the  unhappy  of- 
fender "should  be  swallowed  up  with  his  overmuch  sorrow,"  and  in 
order  that  love  may  be  his  salvation.  Let  the  law  be  a  schoolmaster, 
and  one  with  a  heart  in  him,  to  lead  the  transgressor  to  Christ. 

But  neither  wisdom  nor  gentleness  can  substitute  fidelity. 

And  all  this  will  the  more  clearly  appear  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that,  in  the  administration  of  discipline,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  first  i>ersonal  and  then  official,  the  i^ersonal  is  the  norm 
of  the  official.  When  the  private  Christian  would  "gain  his 
brother"  with  the  word  of  encouragement  or  of  admonition, 
does  it  not  make  the  impression  on  one's  mind  of  reality,  sin- 
cerity, strength,  simple  and  genuine  goodness  ?  No  less  real,  sin- 
cere, strong,  and  good  should  be  the  official  exercise  of  disci- 
pline. That  would  be  a  poor  ecclesiastical  corporation  which 
"had  no  soul."  A  church  officer  or  committeeman,  in  whatever 
lX)sition,  is  to  be  a  iiiaii  officiating.  Official  action  is  personal 
action  under  supposedly  needful  reenforcement  and  limitation. 

4.  Positive  Provision  for  Fellowship  in  the  Church. 

Conditions  of  membership  and  administration  of  discipline, 
then,  are  necessary  regulations  of  the  Church  as  a  social  and 
interdependent  body.  Nor  must  these  be  regarded  as  merely 
protective  regulations.  Their  true  intent  is  more  positive  than 
negative,  more  formative  than  protective.  All  discipline  implies 
energy,  movement,  activity  in  its  administrator.     And  it  is  never 


58  Christianity  as  Organised 

applied  to  a  dead  thing,  but  to  the  Hving  only,  in  the  interest 
also  not  of  destruction  but  of  truer  and  more  abundant  life.  Its 
object  is  not  to  repress  or  diminish  energy,  but  to  sanctify  and 
direct  it.  So  the  order  of  the  house  of  God,  like  the  order  of  a 
schoolroom,  is  maintained  not  to  make  infants  of  youths  or  youths 
of  young  men,  nor  simply  to  punish  and  restrain  the  wrongdoer. 
Quite  the  opposite.  It  is  for  edification,  character-building.  In- 
deed, what  is  lanv  itself?  Edmund  Burke  has  described  it  as  "be- 
neficence zvorking  by  rule."  Though  authority  be  given  of  the 
Loid  to  "deal  sharply,"  it  is  given  "for  building  up,  and  not  for 
casting  down."*  Even  the  Apostle's  judgment,  "with  the  power 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan  for  the  de- 
struction of  the  flesh,"  whatever  it  may  have  meant  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Church,  and  whatever  else  it  may  or  may  not  have 
meant,  was  intended  for  the  ofifender's  highest  and  ultimate  good 
— "that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus."* 

This  intention  is  manifestly  true  of  all  that  discipline  which  we 
have  already  noticed  as  distinctly  formative — of  teaching,  preach- 
ing, spiritual  nurture,  congregational  worship,  sacraments,  pas- 
toral care,  and  leadership.  But  there  is  a  certain  means  of  forma- 
tive discipline  to  which,  before  quitting  the  general  subject,  I 
must  also  ask  a  moment's  special  attention.  I  mean  what  might 
be  called  the  special  organization  of  felloivship. 

Will  not  a  wise  and  brotherly  church  set  a  high  estimate  upon 
this  type  of  organization?  Will  it  not  be  inclined  to  institute 
meetings  and  services  designed,  more  or  less  largely,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  Christian  social  life?  "Let  us  consider  one  another 
to  provoke  unto  love  and  good  works :  not  forsaking  the  assem- 
bling of  ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is;  but  ex- 
horting one  another."^  Were  not  all  the  meetings  of  the  apostolic 
and  the  primitive  churches  of  this  character?^ 

*2  Cor.  xiii.  10.  -I  Cor.  v.  5.  "Heb.  x.  24,  25. 

*"Where  the  members  of  the  fellowship  are  all  merely  passive,  where  no 
one  teaches  or  speaks  or  offers  vocal  prayer  but  the  prie.st,  pastor,  or  minister, 
there  is  no  trace  left  of  the  original  fellowship  of  Christian  believers  as  it 
existed  in  the  apostolic  age."     (Riggs,  "Church  Organization,"  p.  14.) 


Social  Dependence:  Fellowship  59 

There  is  one  perpetual  and  authoritative  example.  The  Hebrew 
Passover  was  not  only  a  memorial  observance,  but  also  an  or- 
ganization of  religious  fellowship.  The  gathering  of  families  or 
other  little  groups  about  the  table,  with  the  various  prescribed 
ceremonies  of  the  feast,  was  both  commemorative  of  Israel's  great 
deliverance  and  immediately  promotive  of  a  sacred  social  com- 
munion. But  "our  Passover  also  hath  been  sacrificed,  even 
Christ."  And  when,  the  evening  before  his  sacrificial  death,  the 
Master  led  his  little  brotherhood  of  disciples  to  the  upper  room, 
and  bade  them  eat  the  bread  and  drink  the  cup  together,  as  often 
as  they  did  it,  in  remembrance  of  him,  it  was  the  Lord's  institu- 
tion of  his  own  memorial  Supper,  and  it  was  at  the  same  time 
an  organization  of  fellowship  in  his  Church.  Indeed,  how  could 
this  truth  of  church  fellowship  be  more  simply  and  significantly 
enshrined  than  in  the  ever-recurring  rite  which  we  have  instinct- 
ively come  to  call  "the  coinmunion  of  the  Lord's  Supper?" 

In  fact,  any  gathering  of  Christian  people,  even  though  it  be 
merely  to  transact  the  financial  business  of  a  church,  is  in  a  very 
appreciable  sense  contributive  to  fellowship.  It  must  be  so,  if 
conducted  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master.  But  the  social  feature  may 
be  more  or  less,  even  much  more  or  much  less,  prominent ;  and 
from  this  point  of  view  Christian  congregational  meetings  may 
be  divided  into  (i)  the  meeting  for  worship  and  preaching,  (2) 
the  meeting  for  instruction,  such  as  the  Sunday  school,  (3)  the 
meeting  for  fellowship,  such  as  the  prayer  meeting  and  the  Sup- 
per of  the  Lord. 

So,  then,  it  may  be  gladly  recognized  that  the  modern  assem- 
bling of  the  congregation  on  Sunday  morning  for  worship  and 
the  inspiration  of  a  living  message  from  the  pulpit,  or  for  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  Sunday  school  (the  Church's  school 
of  the  Bible),  is  conducive  to  mutual  friendship  and  service;  that 
closer  is  fellowship  in  the  prayer  meeting,  and  especially  in  the 
meeting  not  only  for  prayer  but  also  for  conference,  conversa- 
tion, intercliange  of  sympathy,  experiences,  and  ideas — Christian 
people  "exhorting  one  another ;"  that  deepest  and  tenderest  of  all, 


6o  Christianity  as   Organised 

when  observed  according  to  the  mind  of  the  Master,  is  the  com- 
munion with  one  another  at  his  own  table. 

But  the  idea  of  positive  provision  for  fellowship  was  more  ex- 
clusively embodied  in  a  certain  religious  feast,  of  both  apostolic 
and  post-apostolic  times.  Organizing  themselves  about  the  fami- 
ly idea,  the  churches  of  the  New  Testament  held  regular  congre- 
gational meetings  (described,  at  least  in  their  abuses,  in  the  elev- 
enth chapter  of  i  Corinthians)  for  partaking  of  a  meal  together, 
in  connection  with  which  they  broke  the  bread  and  drank  the  cup 
of  the  Lord's  Supper/  In  like  manner,  in  the  post-apostolic 
Church  the  people  met  together  every  Sunday  for  a  meal  which 
they  called  love  ( aydin]  )  ^  whence  the  later  term  love  feast. 
Each,  according  to  his  ability,  brought  his  contribution  of  food; 
each  his  contribution  of  sympathy,  truth,  edification.  Men  and 
women,  the  cultured  and  the  rude,  even  master  and  slave,  asso- 
ciated here  as  united  in  Christ.  One  and  another  would  sing  a 
hymn,  offer  a  prayer,  deliver  a  word  of  exhortation,  expound  a 
Scripture  passage,  not  according  to  any  fixed  rule,  but  under  the 
promptings  of  the  heart.^ 

That  there  could  be  a  Christian  church,  real  and  living,  without 
some  such  meeting  for  fellowship,  would  probably  have  been  an 
unfamiliar  idea  to  those  early  centuries.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
this  fellowship  should  sometimes  be  abused  only  proves  that  Christ's 
people,  then  as  now,  were  beset  with  infirmities  and  liable  to  sin.' 

*i  Pet.  V.  14;  2  Pet.  ii.  13;  Jude  12. 

^"Our  feast  explains  itself  by  its  name.  The  Greeks  call  it  ayanri — {,  e., 
affection.  Whtitever  it  costs,  our  outlay  in  the  name  of  piety  is  gain,  since 
with  the  good  things  of  the  feast  we  benefit  the  needy.  .  .  .  The  partici- 
pants before  reclining  taste  first  of  prayer  to  God.  .  .  .  They  talk  as  those 
who  know  that  the  Lord  is  one  of  their  auditors.  After  manual  ablution  and 
the  bringing  in  of  lights,  each  is  asked  to  stand  forth  and  sing,  as  he  can, 
a  hymn  to  God,  either  one  from  the  holy  Scripture  or  one  of  his  own  com- 
posing. ...  As  the  feast  commenced  with  prayer,  so  with  prayer  it  is 
closed."     (TertuUian,  "Apology,"  c.  39.) 

"Smith  and  Cheatham's  "Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,"  Art.  Agapce. 

It  was  the  abuses  of  the  love  feast  that  occasioned  its  discontinuance. 
Some  time  in  the  fourth  century  it  was  prohibited  by  the  Council  of  Laod- 
icea :  "That  it  is  not  lawful  to  hold  Agapcr  in  the  Lord's  houses  or  the 
churches,  or  to  eat  in  the  houses  of  God  or  lay  couches."     (Canon  XXVTTT.) 


Social  Dependence:  Fellowship  6i 

Why  a  practice  so  apparently  iioiireligious  as  the  eating  of  a 
meal  on  these  occasions?  Because,  for  one  thing,  it  was  a  min- 
istration to  the  poor.  They  contributed,  it  is  true,  of  their  pov- 
erty, but  the  rich  of  their  abundance,  and  it  was  a  common  table 
about  which  rich  and  poor  assembled.  "With  the  good  things  of 
the  feast,"  said  Tertullian,  "we  benefit  the  needy."  The  feast  of 
food  was  a  feast  of  beneficent  and  grateful  love. 

But  also  and  chiefly,  to  break  bread  with  another  is  to  ap- 
proach him  in  a  distinct  outward  act  as  a  friend.  In  the  home 
the  family  meal  is  the  regularly  recurring  occasion  for  kindly 
and  confidential  talk,  the  play  of  affection,  genial  courtesies,  the 
free  sharing  of  whatever  is  best  in  sentiment  and  thought.  It 
means  this  no  less  truly  than  it  means  the  supply  of  bodily  needs. 
Unhuman  is  the  solitary  meal.  In  the  West,  as  well  as  in  the 
ancient  and  hospitable  East,  food  is  symbolic  of  friendship. 
Then,  too,  in  illustration  of  this  use  of  food  as  a  sacrament  of 
friendship  was  the  incomparable  example  of  Jesus.  Sitting  as  a 
guest  at  the  tables  of  the  people,  even  in  the  home  of  a  Pharisee' 
or  a  publican,"  to  both  household  and  guests  he  broke  the  bread  of 
truth  and  love.  He  ate  and  drank  with  his  disciples  day  by  day, 
and  at  the  Last  Supper  and  after  the  Resurrection.'  Nor  shall 
we  find  any  more  winsome  and  searching  communication  of  truth 
than  his  words  at  meal  with  his  friends — the  table  talk  of  Jesus.' 
To  partake  of  a  meal  with  Jesus,  as  so  many  did,  and  as  the 
Twelve  did  so  many  times,  was  it  a  nonreligious  experience?  It 
was  the  transfiguration  of  bodily  hunger  into  a  means  of  the  com- 
munion of  souls.  We  can  understand,  therefore,  how  those  who 
had  learned  of  Jesus  "did  take  their  food,"  breaking  bread  in  the 
home — probably  the  evening  meal,  and  partaken  of  "from  house 
to  house" — "with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising 
God ;"  how  it  seemed  good  to  the  New  Testament  historian 
Luke  to  record,  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were 


'Luke  xi.  37;  vii.  36.  'Luke  v.  29;  xix.  5-7. 

"Luke  xxiv.  42;  John  xxi.   12,   15;  Acts  x.  41. 

*Mark  xiv.  3-9;  Luke  vii.  40-50:  x.  38-42;  John  iv.  31-34;  xiii.  6-17;  xxi. 
15-22.  ^\cts   ii.   46,   47. 


62  Christianity  as  Organised 

gathered  together  to  break  bread,  Paul  discoursed  with  them,'" 
and  to  tell  that  when  Paul  had  "broken  the  bread  and  eaten,  and 
had  talked  with  them  a  long  while,  even  till  break  of  day,  so  he 
departed;"*  and  how  an  evening  meal  together  might  be  chosen 
as  a  means  of  spiritual  fellowship  by  the  early  Christians. 

It  is  so  now.  Hence  when  a  few  Christian  men  and  women — 
say,  the  officers  and  teachers  of  a  Sunday  school  at  a  teachers' 
meeting — make  the  breaking  of  bread  together  a  part  of  the  ex- 
ercises, it  is  both  an  expedient  and  a  scriptural  practice. 

It  is  the  same  endeavor  to  direct  and  perpetuate  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood  that,  in  modern  Christianity,  has  taken  form  in  the 
love  feast  of  the  Moravians,  and  has  found  its  most  extensi^'e 
distinct  embodiment  in  the  class  meeting  of  Methodism.' 

Now  it  is  true  that  brotherly  love  cannot  be  mechanically  reg- 
ulated. A  thing  of  the  heart,  it  insists  on  finding  its  own  means 
of  expression.  Nevertheless  it  may  be  effectively  served  by  fa- 
voring methods  and  opportunities ;  and  one  of  these  is  the  or- 
ganization of  fellowship.  If  the  fountain,  breaking  through  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  would  do  its  best  for  the  v^'orld,  it  must  create 
and  keep  a  channel,  and  not  diffuse  itself  aimlessly  here  and 
there.  Organization  provides  channels  for  the  living  waters  of 
Christian  love,  "where  they  may  broadly  run."  Nor  need  any 
one  forget  that  the  channel  is  not  the  stream. 

Prominent  even  in  the  organization  of  fellowship  will  be  the 
idea  of  service :  not  simply  of  mutual  helpfulness,  but  also  of 
united  service  to  others.  What  can  be  done  for  our  homes,  our 
church,  our  community,  and  not  merely  what  is  the  Christian  life 
to  us  and  what  are  we  to  one  another,  will  be  chief  subjects  of 
conversation.     Otherwise  the  spirit  of  love  itself  may  weaken 

^Acts  XX.  7.  ^Acts  XX.  II. 

'"After  men  became  Christians  much  of  their  time  was  spent  in  prayer 
and  devotion,  in  religious  meetings,  in  celebrating  the  eucharist,  in  confer- 
ences, in  exhortations,  in  preaching,  in  an  affectionate  intercourse  with  one 
another,  and  correspondence  with  other  societies.  Perhaps  their  mode  of 
life,  in  its  form  and  habit,  was  not  very  unlike  the  Unitas  Fratrum  or  the 
modern  Methodists."     (Paley,  "Evidences  of  Christianity,"  Part  I.,  c.   i.) 


Social  Dependence:  J^clloz^'sliip  63 

and  degenerate  into  excliisivism.  In  the  home  Hfe  there  may  be 
a  family  as  well  as  an  individual  selfishness.  There  are  women 
who,  with  admirable  devotion  to  their  own  households,  have  no 
heart  nor  hand  for  any  larger  sphere.  There  are  men  who  are 
kind  to  their  own  kith  and  kin,  yet  not  philanthropic.  Similarly 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  congregational  selfishness,  "Our  church" 
may  shut  out  the  rest  of  the  churches  and  of  the  world. 

But  such  is  not  the  Christianity  of  Christ,  The  meeting  for 
fellowship  in  his  name  will  find  its  most  healthful  outcome  in  the 
fellowship  of  work.  Supjx)se,  for  example,  that  the  business 
methods  of  the  outside  community  are  saturated  with  falsehood 
and  selfishness,  and  the  church  makes  no  effort  to  Christianize 
them,  or  that  even  its  own  members  habitually  practice  these 
methods.  Suppose  that  the  prevailing  conditions  of  community 
life  have  hardly  begun  to  be  brought  under  the  law  of  Christ. 
Shall  a  church  as  such  care  for  none  of  these  things?  She  must 
care  for  them  all.  A  smug  little  ecclesiasticism  cultivating  within 
itself  the  Christian  social  life,  with  no  recognized  mission  of 
Christianization  to  the  social,  political,  commercial,  educational, 
and  industrial  relations  of  men — that  surely  does  not  fulfill  the 
idea  of  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  light  of  the  world,  the  goodly 
fellowship  of  "fellow-workers  unto  the  kingdom  of  God." 


V. 

INDIVIDUALISM:  PARISH,  MONASTERY. 

Social  dependence  is  not  to  be  interpreted  as  the  destruction, 
or  even  repression,  of  the  individual.  It  is  not  each  separate  soul 
siniving  down  into  the  social  order  so  as  to  lose  its  personal  sig- 
nificance or  reason  for  existence.  Only  through  an  abuse  of  the 
principle  of  sociality  can  this  occur.  The  right  use  of  it  will  be 
followed  by  exactly  the  opposite  effect.  As  in  the  very  dawn  of 
consciousness  the  child's  association  with  other  minds  does  not 
hinder,  but  on  the  contrary  awakens  and  sustains,  his  sense  of 
selfhood,  so  is  it  in  youth,  in  the  years  of  maturity,  in  old  age, 
throughout  life.  To  grow  up  into  a  clear  and  commanding  con- 
sciousness of  oneself  as  a  person,  one  must  come  into  acquaint- 
anceship with  other  persons. 

No  doubt  it  is  true,  what  the  philosophers  say,  that  by  con- 
tact with  an  external  world  we  become  aware  of  ourselves.  But 
it  is  equally  true  that  by  association  with  fellow-beings  this  aware- 
ness of  ourselves  is  still  more  distinctly  realized.  The  silent  daily 
assertion,  "I  am  not  you,"  clears  and  strengthens,  through  con- 
trast, the  self-assertion,  'T  am  myself."  The  individual  is  not 
meant  to  be  overcome,  but  on  the  contrary  to  be  stimulated,  by 
social  contact — 

And  grow  a  larger  self  by  other  selves. 

In  politics,  therefore,  when  the  citizen  yields  passively  to  the 
governing  power,  whatever  kind  of  governing  it  does,  or  goes 
blindly  with  his  party,  whatever  its  policy,  offering  thus  a  belated 
example  of  the  ancient  jwlitical  theory  that  the  state  is  every- 
thing and  the  individual  nothing,  he  is  abusing,  not  properly 
using,  his  social  instincts.  He  has  his  reward — the  smiles  of 
the  demagogue  whose  purpose  he  serves.  He  must  also  endure 
his  punishment — the  enfeeblement  of  himself.  In  religion,  like- 
wise, when  the  Christian  passivelv  receives  whatever  is  given  by 
(64) 


Individualism:  Monastery  65 

his  church,  accepting  its  pohty,  its  rites,  its  brotherhood,  its 
teachings,  with  no  reason  save  that  of  a  drowsy,  unreflecting 
submission,  he  also  is  chargeable  with  an  abuse  of  the  principle 
of  sociality.  He  must  react  upon  what  he  sees  and  hears  before 
it  becomes  really  his  own.  Association  with  Christian  brethren 
is  intended  thus  to  guide  him  not  away  from  but  into  the  com- 
pletest  possible  personal  life. 

I.  Individualizing  Effects  of  the  Teaching  and  the 
Personality  of  Jesus. 

This  undoubtedly  is  the  testimony  of  the  Gospels.  For  in  them 
not  only  the  social  but  also  the  personal  element  of  religion  is 
set  forth  in  the  very  lime  light  of  truth. 

The  transcendent  personality  of  Jesus  would  quicken  the  per- 
sonal powers  of  any  open-hearted  disciple.  So  with  his  teaching, 
both  in  spirit  and  form.  He  came  to  men,  as  a  teacher,  with 
truth  and  inspiration,  not  with  intellectual  fetters.  He  taught 
in  parables,  which  had  to  be  thought  out  by  the  learner.  He 
gave  life-breathing  words,  not  groovelike  formulas  of  outward 
conduct.  He  appealed  to  men's  reason  and  conscience :  "Why 
even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?'" 

And  were  no  ej'e  in  us  to  tell, 

Instructed  by  no  inner  sense, 
The  light  of  heaven  from  the  dark  of  hell, 

That  light  would  want  its  evidence. 

The  dominant  Greek  and  Roman  thought  subordinated  the  in- 
dividual to  the  institution.  Jesus  declared :  "The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  Broadly  speaking, 
Judaism  was  for  the  religious  training  of  a  people ;  Christianity 
for  the  quickening  of  persons  into  conscious  sonship  to  God. 
The  message  of  the  prophets  of  Israel  was  predominantly  to  the 
nation :  "O  Israel,  return  unto  Jehovah  thy  God,  for  thou  hast 
fallen  by  thine  iniquity."  The  ministry  of  Jesus  was  to  the  in- 
dividual :  "Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 

'Luke  xii.  57. 


66  Christianity  as   Organised 

He  showed  the  priceless  worth  of  the  single  soul.  Wakening 
that  consciousness  of  worth,  and  putting  each  man  for  an  awful 
moment  apart  from  his  fellows,  he  bade  him  look  up  and  realize 
that  his  first  and  deepest  relationship  is  with  the  Father-God. 
The  good  Shepherd  goes  forth  to  seek  any  one  sheep  that  is  lost. 
Not  even  the  lowliest  child  is  despised :  he  is  an  object  of  Divine 
and  angelic  regard.  As  to  his  disciples,  Jesus  would  not  have 
them  follow  him  with  a  blind,  mechanical  subservience,  as  bond 
servants,  not  knowing  what  their  Master  did.  He  would  relate 
them  to  himself,  and  make  them  sharers  of  his  life  in  the  far 
more  enlightened  and  personal  relation  of  friendship.  "I  have 
called  you  friends ;  for  all  things  that  I  heard  from  my  Father  I 
have  made  know^n  unto  you." 

And  the  Christian  consciousness — is  it  not,  whatever  else  it 
may  be,  the  sense  of  personality  raised  to  its  highest  power? 
The  Christian — by  what  name  shall  he  be  called  ?  In  his  imme- 
diate access  to  God,  a  priest ;  in  the  royalty  of  his  will  power  and 
character,  a  king;  in  his  inmost  spiritual  life,  a  son  of  God.  Be- 
hold the  egoism  of  the  gospel ! 

Inasmuch,  then,  as  Jesus  emphasizes  both  the  social  and  the 
personal  element  of  religion,  we  may  infer  that  there  is  no  con- 
flict between  the  two.  And  we  are  prepared  to  learn  what  ex- 
l>erience  teaches — that,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  mutually  serv- 
iceful.  It  is  an  economic  writer  of  the  present  day  who  holds 
that  *'the  more  the  liberty  of  each  individual  grows,  the  more  the 
social  activity  may,  and  ought,  to  grow  in  its  turn."  Similarly 
the  stronger  the  personality  of  the  individual  disciples  who,  gath- 
ering about  the  Master,  compose  a  church,  the  stronger  the  church 
thus  constituted.  And  their  fraternal  association,  in  its  turn, 
tends  not  to  restrain  but  to  develop  in  each  of  them  this  same  per- 
sonality. Each  for  himself  has  to  choose  to  do  the  Heavenly 
Father's  will,  and  in  relation  to  this  brethren  to  minister  rather 
than  be  ministered  unto.  Each  for  himself  is  to  become  no  less 
aggressive  than  compliant.  Each  for  himself  bearing  another's 
burden  will  be  better  prepared  to  bear  his  own.  Associate  life 
will  both  define  and  enrich  individual  life. 


Individualism:  Monastery  67 

This  will  appear  more  clearly  if  we  consider  for  a  little  while 
what  personality  is.  Not  that  I  propose  to  attempt  a  definition 
of  it.  No  one  has  a  moment's  time  to  spend  in  the  attempt  to 
define  an  ultimate  fact ;  and  personality  is  an  ultimate  fact — in- 
comparably the  greatest  that  we  know  anything  about.  The 
"solid"  earth  is  a  trifle  beside  it.  But  perhaps  we  can  make  up 
something  like  a  description  of  it  by  taking  note  of  its  most  con- 
spicuous qualities ;  and  these  are  such  as  freedom,  self-conscious- 
ness, the  sense  of  identity,  reason,  will,  self-possession,  moral 
love. 

It  is  this  last  quality  with  w'hich  we  are  here  concerned.  Per- 
sonality involves  the  power  not  only  of  self-disposal  in  general, 
but  of  self-devotion  in  particular.  Poor  and  meager  must  be  its 
development  under  the  regime  of  either  the  ancient  or  the  mod- 
ern Ishmael — his  hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand 
against  him.  It  is  capable  of  acknowledging  the  law  of  love ; 
and  only  under  this  law  can  it  reach  its  highest  development. 
Its  very  nature,  therefore,  calls  for  a  social  and  not  a  selfish  or 
merely  individualistic  life.  The  true  life  is  lived,  the  true  self 
found,  the  true  personality  perfected  in  a  Christian  response  to 
the  presence  of  fellow-beings. 

It  is  not  in  the  prison  of  selfishness — "himself,"  as  Milton 
said  of  the  voluptuary,  "his  own  dungeon" — but  out  beneath  the 
heavens  of  truth,  in  free  and  whole-hearted  obedience  to  Christ- 
like love,  the  law  of  his  nature,  that  a  man  may  hope  to  realize 
in  its  finest  expression  the  great  master-fact  of  selfhood. 

2.  Repression  of  the  Individual  in  the  Early  Church. 

Now  in  the  human  world,  as  contradistinguished  from  all  low- 
er spheres,  interest  culminates  in  the  individual;  and  for  the  rea- 
son that  here  the  individual  is  not  merely  a  creature  but  a  person. 
As  such  he  is  not  to  be  used,  like  a  plow  or  even  like  the  faithful 
horse  that  draws  it,  in  gaining  some  end,  but  is  himself  a  true 
end  in  which  other  persons  may  rest  and  be  satisfied.  So  it  is 
not  people  but  persons,  not  societies  but  souls,  not  types  or  classes 
but  personal   characters  and   careers   for  which   we — who  our- 


68  Christianity  as   Organised 

selves  are  each  a  person,  a  soul,  a  character — chiefly  care.  It  is 
not  humanity  but  this  or  that  man  about  whom  we  wish  to  hear. 
It  is  not  personality,  but  personalities  that  have  power  over  us. 

The  case  is  supposable,  however,  that  the  Church  of  God  should 
so  pervert  its  Divine  idea  as  to  become  repressive  of  the  per- 
sonal quality  in  religion.  It  might  come  to  stand  for  solidarity 
and  to  gain  its  end  at  the  expense  O'f  individuality,  which  con- 
sists of  one's  peculiarities  of  intellect,  temperament,  or  speech ; 
or  even  at  the  exi>ense  of  personality,  which,  according  to  the 
description  of  it  just  given,  consists  of  the  essential  capacities  and 
powers  of  one's  being.  In  a  word,  it  might  create  such  an  eccle- 
siastic oneness  as  to  dishonor  individualism,  which  may  be  taken 
as  including  both  individuality  and  personality. 

Not  only  might  this  be  so,  but  it  has  been  so.  For,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  Church  did  thus  overdo  the  idea  of  solidarity  in  the 
fourth  and  a  number  of  succeeding  centuries.  Its  policy  was  so 
to  impose  its  rites  and  so  to  exercise  its  authority  as  to  bring  the 
whole  community,  through  external  pressure  rather  than  free, 
l^ersonal  choice,  into  its  membership.  It  laid  its  hand  by  means 
of  baptism,  which  was  identified  with  the  new  birth,  upon  every 
child  that  was  born.  Its  public  ministrations  were,  to  a  large 
extent,  such  as  the  unspiritual  mind  could  receive  without  dis- 
turbance or  offense — spectacular  and  priestly,  not  vitally  moral 
and  evangelic.  Its  government  became  autocratic  and  hierarchic. 
Through  the  Church's  loss  of  spirituality,  rather  than  through  the 
world's  regeneration,  the  Church  and  the  nation,  as  in  pagan  or 
Mohammedan  countries,  became  practically  one.  All  too  much 
were  men  treated  as  a  mass  of  homogeneous  material  to  be  mold- 
ed, through  the  action  of  ecclesiastic  machinery,  into  a  uniform 
religious  product.    They  were  clay  for  the  brickmaker's  hand. 

But  here  we  shall  do  well  to  pause  a  moment  and  dwell  some- 
what more  particularly  upon  the  causes  in  operation  to  make  the 
Church  an  invader  rather  than  a  promoter  of  personality.  In 
no  small  measure  the  effect  was  due  to  environment.  We  of  the 
present  generation  are  living  in  an  age  of  a  growing  social  con- 
science, it  may  be  hojoed,  and  very  certainly  in  an  age  of  a  well- 


Individualism:  Monastery  69 

grown  individualism.  We  are  indebted  for  it  largely  to  the 
New  Testament.  The  influence  of  Jesus,  wherever  it  is  wel- 
comed, must  produce  such  an  effect.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
Free  Churches  of  England  are  "nurseries  of  individualism." 
WHiatever  dangers  it  might  involve,  such  likewise  were  the  apos- 
tolic cluirches  and  their  immediate  successors.  They  took  even 
the  abject  slave  by  the  hand  and  lifted  him  up  into  a  sense  of  his 
immortal  manhood.  But  autocracy,  imperialism,  militarism,  Avas 
the  dominant  note  of  the  all-conquering  Roman  Empire,  under 
whose  sway  these  little  Christian  communities  had  to  gain  and 
maintain  a  standing  ground.  The  common  man  was  to  be  used 
rather  than  respected.  The  slavery  of  captives  or  men  of  in- 
ferior races  or  other  useful  unfortunates  was  to  be  accepted  as  a 
part  of  the  constitution  of  the  world.  "The  slave,"  says  the  most 
influential  philosophic  mind  of  antiquity,  "is,  as  it  were,  a  part  of 
the  master,  as  if  he  were  an  animated  part  of  his  body,  though 
separate."'  They  are  "destined  by  nature  to  slavery" — so  he 
taught — and  "there  is  nothing  better  for  them  to  do  than  to 
obey."  Modern  and  Western  ideas  of  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual human  being  had  not  yet  risen  above  the  threshold  of  the 
national  consciousness.  In  these  circumstances  was  it  any  won- 
der that  the  imperialism  of  the  State  should  invade  the  Gentile 
churches  ? 

But  there  was  also  a  more  powerful  force  in  the  Church's  en- 
vironment that  wrought  for  the  same  effect.  The  imperial  gov- 
ernment was  a  pagan  and  sacerdotal  government.  Its  religion 
was  a  religion  of  priests  and  sacrifices  and  auguries.  In  this  re- 
ligion the  Gentile  Christians  had  been  born  and  brought  up.     It 

'Aristotle,  "Politics,"  Bk.  I.,  c.  6. 

Compare  this  teaching  about  slaves  with  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  to  them  (Aristotle  taught  nothing  to  them)  :  "Wast  thou  called 
being  a  bondservant?  care  not  for  it;  but  if  thou  canst  become  free,  use  it 
rather.  For  he  that  was  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  bondservant,  is  the 
Lord's  f reedman ;"  and  again :  "Whatsoever  ye  do,  work  heartily,  as  unto 
the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men ;  knowing  that  from  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive 
the  recompense  of  the  inheritance:  ye  serve  the  Lord  Christ."  (i  Cor.  vii. 
21,  22;  Col.  iii.  23,  24.) 


JO  Clirisfianity  as   Organized 

was  intertwined  with  many  of  the  dearest  associations  of  their 
life.  It  was  their  inheritance  through  the  course  of  generations 
— in  the  lilood,  in  the  habit  of  mind.  No  wonder,  then,  if  they 
should  be  inchned  to  carry  with  them  the  idea  of  it  and  the  in- 
cHnation  tow^ard  it,  in  some  form  or  other,  into  the  Church? 
At  any  rate,  it  gave  signs  ere  long  of  its  presence  in  the  Church. 
The  so-called  Christian  priest  made  his  appearance.  The  hier- 
arch  began  to  put  forth  his  claims  in  the  household  of  Jesus. 

And  the  point  of  significance  here  is  that  the  sacerdotal  idea 
of  Christianity,  whether  embodied  in  the  culmination  of  its  power 
in  the  Church  of  Rome  or  in  the  somewhat  milder  forms  of  the 
earlier  churches  and  of  modern  ritualistic  communities,  is  no 
friend  of  individualism.  Let  it  be  successfully  taught  that  the 
ministry  antedates  and  makes  the  Church ;  that  this  ministty  is 
a  priesthood;  that  the  regenerate  life  begins  in  baptism,  received 
either  in  infancy  or  on  profession  of  faith,  and  that  it  is  nourished 
by  bread  and  wine,  which,  through  the  priest's  consecrating 
words,  is  changed  into  spiritual  food ;  that  forgiveness  of  sins 
is  from  the  priest;  that  the  Church,  supposed  to  be  coordinate 
with  the  Scriptures  and  an  infallible  teacher,  is  to  take  men  into 
its  membership  that  it  may  both  make  and  keep  them  Christians 
through  the  administration  of  ordinances ;  let  this  be  done,  and 
the  result  will  not  be  doubtful.  A  manifestly  different  type  of 
Christian  character  will  appear  from  that  which  properly  results 
from  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament.  It  will  lack  dis- 
tinctness, depth,  freedom,  individuality,  strength  of  personality. 
It  will  bear  the  watermarks  of  a  system  of  spiritual  oppression 
heavier  than  that  from  which  the  Jewish  Christians  had  been 
rescued  whom  the  great  world-x^postle  teaches  and  exhorts : 
"With  freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free;  stand  fast,  therefore,  and 
he  not  entangled  again  in  a  yoke  of  bondage." 

Thus  the  rising  sacerdotalism  of  the  earlier  Christian  centuries, 
so  far  as  it  had  sway,  added  the  weight  of  its  influence  to  that 
of  imperialism ;  and  the  operation  of  the  united  forces  was  to  dis- 
pose the  individual  side  by  side  with  his  fellows  upon  a  certain 
dead  level  of  authoritative  ceremonial  religion.     Verily  the  new- 


Individualism:  Monastery  71 

born  sense  of  selfhood  "was  here,  but  as  a  child  in  the  midst  of 
grown-up  foes." 

What  now  shall  the  earnest  souls  do,  intent  upon  the  satisfac- 
tion of  their  own  conscious  and  particular  spiritual  needs?  Many 
of  them,  let  us  hope,  persisted,  despite  unfavorable  surroundings, 
in  seeking-  the  true  knowledge  of  God.  Many  doubtless  gave  up 
the  attempt  and  drifted  with  the  popular  tide.  Some  stood  forth 
in  protest  as  heretics  or  schismatics.  But  there  was  also  a  great 
multitude  who,  without  antagonizing  the  Church,  neither  dis- 
believing its  dogmas  nor  refusing  its  rites,  simply  turned  away 
into  seclusion,  and  formed  religious  communities  of  their  own. 
The  monastery  was  instituted.  Montanism  has  been  described 
as  "a  beating  of  the  wings  of  pietism  against  the  iron  bars  of 
organization."  Monasticism  was  not  a  beating  against  the  bars, 
but  an  escape  on  the  unfolded  wings  of  pietism  to  a  chosen  re- 
treat. 

It  is  with  this  movement  that  we  are  now  chiefly  to  be  occu- 
pied. 

3.  Formation  of  the  Parish. 

It  may  be  well,  then,  to  take  a  glance  at  the  parish  church  and 
the  monasterv.  as  they  stood  side  by  side,  embodying  contrasted 
conceptions  of  Christianity,  through  the  early  and  the  medieval 
centuries. 

The  word  parish  (in  its  Greek  form.  vapoiKm,  a  "sojourning," 
which  afterwards  came  to  mean  the  "sojourners"  themselves) 
is  the  name  which  seems  to  have  been  given  two  thousand  years 
ago  to  a  communit}'^  of  Jews  in  a  Gentile  city.  For  the  Jews 
were  then,  as  now.  a  scattered  nation.  They  were  found,  for  ex- 
ample, in  Ephesus  or  Corinth  or  Rome,  far  from  the  father- 
land, a  comparatively  small  community  dwelling  alongside  the 
great  Gentile  community.  Yet  with  these  dominant  Gentiles — 
being  separated  from  them  by  religious  faith  and  observances — 
the}^  were  in  no  close  afifinity.  So  they  were  called  strangers,  for- 
eigners, sojourners  {-rrapoLKiai). 

Now  when   the   gospel   was   preaclied   in  sucli   cities  and  the 


72  Christianity  as  Organized 

first  little  Christian  congregations  gathered,  they  too  were  called 
pnrokiai  (or,  as  we  have  it,  parishes).  Why  so?  Perhaps  be- 
cause, for  one  thing,  these  congregations  were  formed  in  part 
out  O'f  members  of  the  Jewish  population,  and  in  some  instances, 
as  may  be  supposed,  the  synagogue  itself  became  a  Christian 
church.  Also,  we  may  believe,  because  of  the  nearness  of  these 
little  Christian  communities  to,  and  at  the  same  time  their  sep- 
arateness  from  (Trapa-oiKtw),  the  generality  of  the  people.  It 
would  seem  still  again  that  the  idea  of  their  being  but  sojourners 
on  earth,  having  their  real  citizenship  in  heaven,  favored  this 
application  of  the  term  to  the  early  Christian  communities.' 

Christianity  went  on  to  overspread  province  after  province  of 
the  Empire ;  and  as  churches  were  multiplied,  esi>ecially  in  the 
city  and  its  suburbs,  the  whole  group  of  churches  under  the  rule 
of  a  bishop  was  called  a  parish."  But  after  a  time — say,  by  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century — this  group  of  churches,  no 
longer  circumscribed  by  the  city  and  its  environs,  but,  extending 
into  the  country,  began  to  be  called  a  diocese,  and  the  name  parish 
to  be  restricted  to  the  single  congregation." 

At  first  parishes  had  no  strict  territorial  limits,  either  in  city 
or  country;  nor  did  they  necessarily  adjoin  one  another.  But 
when  whole  peoples  became  (nominally)  Christianized,  and  the 
organization  of  the  Church  was  perfected,  their  entire  territory 
(as,  for  instance,  in  England  at  the  present  day)  would  in  the 

M  Pet.  i.  17- 

Clement  of  Rome  begins  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  with  the  words : 
"The  Church  of  God  which  sojourns  (  n '^npomoma  )  at  Rome  to  the  Church 
of  God  sojourning  (  i"»;  T^apoiKovaT))  at  Corinth."  (See  also  Polycarp,  To  the 
Philippians. 

^Eusebius,  for  example,  speaks  of  Cyprian  as  "pastor  of  the  parish  of 
Carthage."     (Ecc.  Hist.,  Bk.  VII.,  c.  3-) 

3"it  [diocese]  .  .  .  signified  an  aggregate  not  merely  of  several  dis- 
tricts, governed  each  by  its  own  bishop,  but  of  several  provinces,  each  pre- 
sided over  by  a  metropolitan.  The  diocese  itself  was  under  an  Exarch  or 
Metropolitan.  .  .  .  About  the  same  period  the  word  diocese  began  also 
to  assume  the  sense  which  has  finally  prevailed  to  the  exclusion  of  that 
just  mentioned,  and  to  be  u.sed  to  signify  a  district  governed  by  a  single 
bishop."      (Smith   and   Cheatham's   Dictionary.    Art.    "Diocese.") 


Individnalisui:  Monastery  73 

course  of  time  be  divided  into  parishes.  Each  of  these  parishes, 
moreover,  would  have  its  pastor  or  ruler  ("rector"),  whose  ad- 
ministration was  that  of  a  priest — the  people,  on  their  part,  be- 
ing free  to  choose  neither  pastor  nor  place  of  worship/ 

Meanwhile,  through  all  the  changes  of  the  decades  and  cen- 
turies, the  rule  of  the  bishops  was  steadily  maintained. 

Thus  the  Church  was  completing  its  organization  and  subject- 
ing all  classes  and  conditions  of  men  to  its  authority.  More  and 
more  it  came  to  stand  for  the  principle  of  solidarity.  More  and 
more  it  tended  to  fuse  its  membership  into  a  mass,  to  take  charge 
of  their  consciences,  to  offer  them  a  uniform  measure  and  me- 
chanical method  of  religion. 

We  have  already  glanced  at  the  effect  of  this  procedure.  About 
the  best  that  can  be  said  of  it  is,  that  the  Christian  people  Avere 
regularly  brought  into  contact  with  sacred  things,  their  religious 
instincts  were  honored,  and  more  or  less  of  the  law  and  gospel 
of  Christ  was  put  within  their  reach. 

W^ere  the  people  satisfied  withal  ?  For  the  most  part,  they  were 
probably  too  well  satisfied.  But  here  and  there  in  the  congrega- 
tion arose  a  cry  for  personal  deliverance  from  sin  and  com- 
munion with  the  Heavenly  Father  which  was  met  by  the  Church 
with  no  true  answer. 

4.  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Monastery. 

Meanwhile  the  new  and  wonderful  movement  which  we  are 
now  about  to  trace  had  asserted  itself,  and  was  going  on  un- 
checked, with  increasing  momentum,  separate  and  apart  from  the 
general  line  of  ecclesiastical  advance.     Side  by  side  with  the  par- 

'"Tn  this  way  the  parish  became  a  prominent  element  in  the  later  organi- 
zation of  Christianity.  The  territorial  idea  completely  ousted  the  original 
idea  of  a  community  or  congregation.  The  members  of  the  Church  were 
not  free  to  worship  where  they  pleased,  or  to  associate  for  religious  purposes 
with  whom  they  would.  The  framework  was  prepared  for  them  in  the 
parochial  system.  They  were  part  of  the  flock  not  merely  of  one  bishop, 
but  of  one  presbyter.  They  were  committed  to  his  charge,  and  to  no  other 
could  they  properly  look  for  teaching,  for  consolation,  or  for  the  sacraments." 
(Hatch,  "Growth  of  Church  Institutions."  p.  97.) 


74  Christianity   as   Org^ajiiccd 

ish  arose  the  monastery.  It  was  not  planned  for  by  the  Church 
leaders,  nor  indeed  by  any  one  else.  It  was  not  calletl  into  exist- 
ence by  the  bishops.     It  came  of  itself. 

In  a  similar  way  independent  associations,  larg-er  or  smaller, 
well  advised  or  ill  advised,  have  arisen  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  great  religious  organizations,  in  both  ancient  and  modern 
times.  Even  paganism  offers  examples,  such  as  the  rise  of  Bud- 
dhism in  Brahmanism  and  of  the  Greek  "mysteries."'  In  Juda- 
ism may  be  noted  "they  that  feared  Jehovah"  and  "spake  one 
with  another"  in  the  days  of  the  prophets,^  and  later  the  sects  of 
the  Essenes  and  of  the  Pharisees ;  and  in  Christianity,  the  Broth- 
ers of  the  Common  Life  and  similar  societies  in  the  Medie\'al 
Church,  Methodism  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  organizations 
for  the  "promotion  of  holiness"  in  the  present-day  Methodist 
Churches.  Radically  as  these  movements  differ  in  many  re- 
spects, one  significant  feature  is  common  to  them  all :  they  rep- 
resent the  striving  of  the  individual  after  the  satisfaction  of  a 
religious  need  which,  in  the  larger  organization,  does  not  seem 
to  him  adequately  provided  for. 

As  to  the  monastic  passion  in  particular,  let  us  bear  in  mind 
that  when  it  began  to  take  fonn  in  the  Christian  Church  it  was 
by  no  means  a  new  thing  in  the  history  of  religion.  Already  had 
it  appeared  in  the  religion  of  ancient  Egypt,  in  Brahmanism.  in 
Buddhism,  and  even  to  a  small  extent  in  Judaism.  In  Brahman- 
ism and  Buddhism  it  had  organized  itself  thoroughly  and  promi- 
nently. Indeed,  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  both  these  faiths, 
with  their  hundreds  of  millions  of  adherents,  that  the  whole 
world  is  but  a  painted  show,  a  troublesome  illusion,  full  of  v.eari- 
ness  and  pain,  from  which  the  wise  man  will  free  himself  by  an 
ascetic  disciphne.  This  was  taught  as  the  one  pathway  of  per- 
fection. Monasticism,  therefore,  is  neither  a  proper  product  nor 
a  i>eculiar  by-product  of  Christianity.  It  crept  into  the  Church 
"through  a  back  door."  as  some  one  has  said,  after  its  funda- 
mental principle  of  asceticism  had  been  emphatically  and  uni- 

'Mal.  iii.  t6. 


Individualism:  Monastery  75 

versally   condemned    in   the   Catholic   condemnation   of   Gnosti- 
cism. 

The  spirit  of  this  movement  in  the  early  Church  was  a  mixture 
of  motives.  One  very  prominent  motive,  no  douht,  was  the  desire 
to  find  spiritual  safety  in  solitude.'  It  was  the  case  of  a  soldier 
willing  to  undergo  the  hardships  and  fatigue  of  the  campaign. 
but  refusing  to  take  the  risks  of  the  battle  field — ready  to  "endure 
hardness,"  but  not  to  "withstand  in  the  evil  day."  Hildebrand, 
one  may  believe,  was  well  justified  in  his  rebuke  of  the  monas- 
ter)',  as  he  knew  it  in  his  own  time:  "Behold,  those  who  seem  to 
fear  or  to  love  God  flee  from  the  warfare  of  Christ,  make  sec- 
ondary the  salvation  of  their  brethren,  and,  loving  only  them- 
selves, seek  a  quiet  retreat."  But  no  attempt  to  account  for  the 
free  choice  of  the  monastic  life  by  fixing  exclusive  attention  upon 
any  one  motive  would  be  satisfactory.  Various  were  the  moral 
forces,  some  influential  in  one  case  and  some  in  another,  that  for 
so  many  Christian  generations  made  the  haunts  of  asceticism  suc- 
cessful competitors  of  the  home,  the  social  circle,  and  the  parish 
church.  What,  in  addition  to  the  desire  for  safety,  were  tliey? 
The  worthiest  of  them  all  was  a  keen  sense  of  sinfulness."  Other 
motives  were  the  dread  of  sensualism,  the  propensity  to  make 
oneself  worthy  of  God's  acceptance,  weariness  of  the  order  of 
society,  love  of  retirement,  the  desire  for  a  vocation,  the  fear  of 
l)ublic  responsibility,  the  joy  of  physical  danger  and  self-denial 
or  on  the  other  hand  the  charm  of  an  "order  of  the  Peaceful" 

^Montalembert,  to  whom  monasticism  is  the  highest  Christian  ideal  of 
Hfe,  defines  the  monk  as  simply  under  the  control  of  the  great  Christian 
motive  of  love  for  himself,  for  God,  for  the  world :  "A  monk  is  a  Christian 
who  puts  himself  apart  from  the  world,  in  order  more  surely  to  work  out 
his  eternal  salvation.  He  is  a  man  who  withdrav.^s  from  other  men.,  not  in 
liatred  or  contempt  of  them,  but  for  the  love  of  God  and  his  neighbor,  and 
to  ser\'e  them  so  much  the  better,  as  he  shall  have  more  and  more  purified 
and  regulated  his  soul."     (  "TIk;  Monks  of  the  West."'  Vol.  I.,  p.  i66.) 

-"Affrighted  with  my  sins  and  the  burden  of  my  misen,-,  I  had  cast  in 
my  heart  ar  d  had  purposed  to  flee  to  the  wilderness ;  but  Thou  forbadest  me, 
and  strengthened  me,  saying.  'Therefore  Christ  died  for  all,  that  they  which 
live  may  now  no  longer  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him  that  died  for 
them."     (Augustine,  "Confessions,"  X..  70.) 


76  Christianity  as  Organised 

in  an  age  of  bloodshed  and  riot,  the  fanatical  fancy  of  merit  in 
self-inflicted  suffering,  the  vague  and  indefinable  longing  for 
something  diviner  and  more  deeply  satisfying — 

"Infinite  passion  and  the  pain 
Of  finite  hearts  that  yearn." 

But  from  the  standpoint  of  ecclesiastical  polity  we  need  note 
but  one  great  motive,  and  that  is  religious  individualism.  Mis- 
taken, self-centered,  passionately  devoted  to  an  unchristian  ideal, 
monasticism  was  nevertheless  a  widely  extended  peaceable  pro- 
test of  the  individual  against  mechanical  uniformity  and  re- 
pressive authority.  The  monk  would  fain  realize  himself  in  free- 
dom. He  would  escape  not  only  from  the  i>erilous  allurements 
of  ordinary  human  intercourse,  but  also  from  the  oppression  of 
an  ecclesiastical  Christianity.  He  would  live  his  own  life,  seek- 
ing God  in  constant  prayer  and  meditation,  in  the  desert  or  the 
forest  or  the  cliff  side  or  the  lonely  mountain  gorge/ 

5.  Social  Developments  of  Monasticism. 

But  the  monk  was  not  able  very  long  to  resist  the  tendency  of 
all  life  toward  organization.  He  must  have  an  ecclesia  even  in 
the  wilderness.  How  else,  indeed,  could  he  give  anything  like 
adequate  recognition  to  the  Christian  law  of  love?  And  the 
freedom  that  is  sought  otherwise  than  through  obedience  to  eter- 
nal law,  is  real  slavery. 

"Love  of  my  kind  alone  can  set  me  free ; 
Help  me  to  welcome  all  that  come  to  me, 
Not  close  my  doors  and  dream  solitude  liberty." 

It  is  well-nigh  inevitable,  therefore,  that  even  the  religious  soli- 
taire should  develop  a  social  institution. 


'"Christianity  for  the  masses  existed  as  something  passively  accepted,  and 
not  as  the  expression  of  individual  decision.  .  .  .  The  Church  u^as  in- 
volved in  the  thousand  compromises  arising  out  of  this  situation.  Her  pro- 
test against  these,  or  rather  her  protest  that  something  more  individual  and 
more  decisive  could  be  contemplated,  was  embodied  mainly  in  Monasticism." 
(Rainy,  "The  Ancient  Catholic  Church,"  p.  520.) 


Individualism:  Monastery  77 

Three  principal  stages  of  this  development  may  be  noted :  ( i ) 
the  monk  according  to  the  original  idea  (/moVos,  "alone"),  a  her- 
mit, dwelling  in  his  cave  or  hollow  tree  or  miserable  hut,  with 
no  companionship  whatsoever;  (2)  the  monk  as  a  coenobite,  liv- 
ing with  his  brethren  in  a  monastery,  each  monastery  having  its 
own  government  quite  independent  of  the  rest;  (3)  all  the  mon- 
asteries of  the  same  order  affiliated  under  a  common  government, 
moral  rather  than  organic,  with  the  mother  monastery  as  its 
center/ 

Now  the  presiding  officer  of  a  monastery  wielded  well-nigh 
absolute  authority ;  for  the  threefold  monastic  vow  was  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience.  Where,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  was  the 
freedom  of  the  monk's  life  as  compared  with  that  of  membership 
in  the  parish  church  ?  First  of  all,  it  must  be  granted  that  he 
did  return  to  organization,  and  hence  to  authority;  he  had  to  do 
so;  he  could  not  continue  to  live  so  unhuman  a  life  as  that  of  a 
hermit.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  liberty  was  found  in  the  fact 
that  he  chose  the  monastic  life  freely  and  deliberately,  and  that 
its  companionships  were  congenial.  Besides,  the  monk  had  a 
voice  in  the  selection  of  his  own  chief ;  for  the  abbot  was  not  ap- 
pointed by  the  bishop,  nor  by  any  other  authority,  but  was  elected 
by  the  brothers  of  the  monastery  themselves. 

But  these  were  not  the  chief  things.  The  source  of  monastic 
freedom  lay  deeper.  It  was  in  that  religious  earnestness  which 
clears  and  intensifies  one's  sense  of  his  own  personality.  The 
man  who  becomes  aware  of  his  eternal  worth,  notwithstanding  all 
his  unworthiness,  who  feels  the  intolerable  burden  of  his  sins  and 
is  bent  on  securing  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  cannot  live  any  longer 
in  the  spirit  of  a  slave  to  men.  Standing  before  God  he  will 
awake  to  such  a  consciousness  of  selfhood  as  will  set  him  free. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  monk  chose  to  live  in  a  monastery  and 

'"Thus  arose  huge  organizations,  which  stretched  their  colonies  across 
many  countries,  without  weakening  the  connection  between  the  members  and 
the  center."  (Schaff-Herzog,  "Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge,"  Art. 
"Monastery.") 


78  Christianity  as  Organised 

obey  his  abbot,  feeling  that  it  was  in  this  way  he  could  best 
attain  the  personal  end  which  he  kept  ever  in  view. 

Nor  should  it  be  supposed  that  the  monk,  like  the  black-veiled 
nun  of  a  later  day,  was  prohibited  from  passing  beyond  the  walls 
of  the  monastery.  On  occasion  he  would  go  forth  to  visit  a  city, 
or  influence  the  proceedings  of  an  ecclesiastical  council  (some- 
times mischievously,  no  doubt),  or  attempt  some  other  service  in 
the  wide  and  busy  world.  Even  the  hermits  did  so — as,  for  in- 
stance, Anthony,  the  father  of  monasticism,  in  his  visits  to  Alex- 
andria. It  was  through  the  act  of  an  Eastern  luonk  also — if  the 
story  be  true — that  the  Emperor  Honorius  was  moved  to  abolish 
the  most  brutalizing,  yet  most  popular,  sport  of  the  age.  For  when 
Telemachus,  in  the  year  404 — journeying,  it  is  said,  all  the  way 
from  the  East  for  the  purpose — descended  into  the  arena  of  the 
Roman  amphitheater  to  part  the  contending  gladiators,  and  died 
under  the  stones  flung  from  the  hands  of  bloodthirsty  spectators, 
that  martyr  death  proved  the  effectual  condemnation  of  the  crim- 
inal entertainment  against  which  it  bore  witness. 

"His  dream  became  a  deed  and  woke  the  world." 

Let  it  Stand  as  an  example,  the  most  promising  as  well  as  the 
most  dramatic,  of  the  outside  work  of  the  Christian  monk  in  that 
early  age. 

6.  Regulation  and  Supervision  of  the  Monastery. 

Evidently  the  daily  life  of  the  monastery  must  be  brought  un- 
der some  sort  of  systematic  regulation.  In  point  of  fact  this 
regulation  became  very  exact  and  minute.  In  the  East  the  rule 
that  universally  prevailed  and  has  substantially  maintained  itself, 
at  least  in  theory,  in  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  unto  the 
present  day  is  that  of  Basil  the  Great  (d.  380).  This  Rule, 
notwithstanding  the  real  greatness,  moral  and  intellectual,  of  its 
author,  was,  like  himself,  extremely  ascetic:  Only  one  meal  a 
day.  and  that  consisting  of  bread,  water,  and  herbs ;  no  sleep  after 
midnight;  both  day  and  night  divided  off  into  short,  definite 
periods ;  manual  labor  alternating  with  devotional  exercises. 


Individualism:  Monastery  79 

In  the  East,  indeed,  monasticism  has  had  practically  no  de- 
velopment since  the  early  days.  It  has  never  given  rise,  as  in 
the  West,  to  different  orders  founded  with  different  aims  and  for 
special  lines  of  work — as,  for  instance,  the  Franciscans  to  care 
for  the  poor,  the  Dominicans  to  preach,  the  Carmelites  to.promote 
the  practice  of  devotion  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  so  on.  It  has 
ignored  all  knowledge  and  mental  culture.  Its  chosen  state  is 
that  of  intellectual  inertness  and  ignorance.  When  the  great  Greek 
theologian  and  scholar,  Eugenios  Bulgaris,  made  the  effort  to 
found  a  school  at  Mount  Athos,  the  chief  seat  of  Eastern  monas- 
ticism, with  its  many  monasteries  and  seven  thousand  monks, 
these  monks  angrily  tore  the  building  down,  and  it  has  not  yet 
been  rebuilt.  Knowledge  seems  to  be  regarded  as  an  element 
of  that  "evil  world"  from  which  the  monk  has  fled  for  the  saving 
of  his  soul. 

And  so  likewise,  one  might  be  tempted  to  say,  is  beneficent 
activity  set  at  naught.  For  the  Eastern  monks  do  not  go  forth 
to  teach  or  preach  or  tend  the  sick  or  in  any  way  serve  their 
fellow-men.  In  the  language  of  the  historian  (and  eulogist)  of 
"The  Monks  of  the  West,"  "the  monks  of  the  East  sank  grad- 
ually into  nothingness."  For  all  that  they  speak  of  their  life  as 
the  "angelic  life"  and  their  costume  as  the  "angelic  habit,"  they 
are  by  no  means  to  be  called,  like  the  angels  of  heaven,  "minister- 
ing spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  service." 

In  the  West  the  most  widely  accepted  Rule  was  that  of  Ben- 
edict. It,  chiefly  perhaps,  won  for  its  author  the  title,  "Father 
of  the  Monks  of  the  West."  At  any  rate,  the  founding  of  his 
monastery  on  Monte  Casino  in  Southern  Italy  (529)  and  the 
framing  of  its  Rule  mark  the  beginning  of  effective  organized 
monasticism  in  Europe. 

The  Rule  of  Benedict — which  for  eight  centuries,  through  the 
Age  of  Iron,  had  no  rival  in  the  West — though  by  no  means 
lenient,  was  conceived  in  a  much  milder  and  more  reasonable 
spirit  than  that  of  Basil.  The  monastery  must  contain  within 
its  inclosure  not  only  gardens  but  also  a  mill  and  a  bakery — all 


8o  Christianity  as  Organised 

thing-s  necessary  for  subsistence ;  open-handed  hospitality  must 
be  shown  to  strangers  and  the  poor;  the  monk  must  own  no 
property,  not  even  the  pen  with  which  he  did  his  writing;  a 
novitiate  of  twelve  months  was  required  for  admission  into  the 
community ;  daily  hours  of  outdoor  labor,  in  summer  and  winter, 
were  assigned — doubtless,  as  Jerome  had  said  to  Rusticus,  "not 
so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  body  as  to  save  the  soul ;"  hours  of 
daily  study  must  also  be  observed — a  most  fruitful  provision; 
and  a  somewhat  nutritious  diet  was  prescribed. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Rule  of  Benedict  required  the 
novice  who  applied  for  admission  into  the  community  to  make 
a  vow  of  "stability,"  or  perpetual  residence.  He  must  write  it 
out  with  his  own  hand,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren  lay 
it  upon  the  altar.  Theretofore,  while  the  rule  of  "once  a  monk 
always  a  monk"  could  claim  the  authority  of  even  a  General 
Council,^  no  distinct  and  regular  vow  to  observe  it  had  been  pre- 
scribed by  the  monasteries  themselves.  But  Benedict  would  lay 
upon  the  applicant,  in  a  form  not  to  be  misunderstood  or  forgot- 
ten, the  obligation  of  irrevocable  self-commitment  to  the  monastic 
life.' 

And  it  will  have  to  be  added  that  the  inhuman  custom  was 
adopted  of  receiving  young  children  into  the  monastery,  at  the 
request  of  their  parents,  to  be  trained  up  for  monkhood. 

In  addition  to  the  observance  of  the  Rules  of  the  Monastery, 
the  use  of  certain  instruments  of  self-torture,  such  as  the  hair 
shirt,  the  girdle  and  bracelets  of  sharp-pointed  metal,  and  the 
whip,  as  a  voluntary  discipline,  became  a  prominent  feature  of 
the  monastic  life  in  the  Middle  Ages.  And  this  discipline  of 
bodily  self-torture  is  still  commended  by  the  Church  of  Rome 

'"Those  who  have  been  once  received  into  the  number  of  the  clergj'  or 
have  become  monks  must  not  serve  in  war  or  enter  a  secular  calling;  those 
who  venture  to  do  so,  and  do  not  repent  so  as  to  return  to  the  calling  which 
they  had  previously  chosen  for  the  sake  of  God,  shall  be  anathematized." 
(Council  of  Chalcedon,  Can.  7.) 

*Montalembert,  "The  Monks  of  the  West,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  338,  339. 


Individualism:  Monastery  8i 

and  practiced,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  both  within  and  with- 
out its  "rehgious"  houses/ 

But  it  is  still  likely  to  be  asked :  How  can  it  be  that  monasticism, 
with  its  unnatural  limitations  upon  the  personal  life  and  its  soul- 
benumbing  routine,  did  not  violate  the  principles  of  freedom  and 
individualism  ?  The  unequivocal  answer  is,  that  it  did  violate 
these  principles,  and  as  a  consequence  wrought  a  pitiful  impov- 
erishment of  the  highest  powers  of  its  subjects.  But  such  was 
not  the  spirit,  however  damaging  may  have  been  the  methods, 
with  which  it  began.  Its  initial  significance  was  that  of  the  in- 
dividual soul  choosing  its  own  abode,  its  own  associations,  its 
own  life — turning  away  from  the  many  that  it  might  the  better 
regulate  and  exercise  itself. 

Monasteries  multiplied  by  the  thousand,  from  the  shores  of 
Palestine  to  the  north  of  Scotland.  Not  confined  to  the  country, 
their  doors  were  opened  in  the  heart  of  the  city  and  under  the 
shadow  of  cathedral  churches  to  all  who  would  follow  what  was 
regarded  as  the  higher  Christian  life.  Nor  did  they  offer  the 
privileges  of  membership  to  men  only.  Houses  of  nuns  as  well 
as  of  monks  were  organized. 

And  though  the  Church,  in  its  collective  capacity,  did  not  create 
the  monasteries,  it  could  not  ignore  them.  It  must  utilize  them 
sympathetically  and  wisely  for  its  great  general  purpose.  By  no 
means  must  it  permit  them  to  drift  away  from  its  control — as  the 
Church  of  England,  centuries  afterwards,  permitted  Methodism 

^"The  whip  of  discipline  is  of  iron  or  of  cords.  The  lirst  sort  are  made 
of  a  bundle  of  little  chains,  sharp-pointed,  and  fastened  to  a  chain  which 
serves  for  brandishing  them.  The  other  sort  consist  of  cords  knotted  and 
sometimes  armed  with  iron  points.  The  form  and  material  are  of  little 
consequence.  .  .  .  The  use  of  the  whip  of  discipline  is  general  in  mon- 
asteries and  religious  communities,  and  is  even  more  extensive  than  might 
be  supposed  among  devotedly  pious  people  of  the  world.  The  energy  thus  put 
forth  to  arm  one  against  ore's  self  and  to  tax  one's  self  with  the  goad  of 
pain,  becomes  an  excitant  of  religious  ardor,  and  by  this  voluntary  punish- 
ment it  prevents  and  restrains  the  audacity'  of  the  flesh."  (Ribet.  "L'  As- 
cetiqne  Chretieune"  (1905).  pp.  431,  43.^.  published  under  the  authority  and 
commendation  of  a  bref  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.) 

6 


82  Christianity  as  Organised 

to  drift  away.  As  one  \t\y  important  matter,  it  must  see  that 
they  observed  the  sacraments.  For  the  monastery,  in  its  incep- 
tion, let  it  be  remembered,  was  a  lay  institution ;  monks  were,  for 
the  most  part,  laymen — even  so  powerful  a  leader  as  Benedict, 
for  example — and  felt  no  special  dei>endence  on  the  sacramental 
ministrations  of  the  clergy.'  Their  own  religious  services,  like 
those  of  the  apostolic  churches  and  the  reformed  churches  of  to- 
day, consisted  of  common  prayer  and  praise,  with  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  exhortation.  At  times,  indeed,  they  would 
attend  the  parish  church,  and  receive  the  "sacrament  of  the  altar" 
there.  But  the  Church  waited  upon  its  self-secluded  children 
with  a  better  provision :  the  bishop  would  appoint  them  an  or- 
dained chaplain,  O'r  would  ordain  one  of  their  own  number  tO'  the 
priesthood,  so  that  each  monastery  might  have  the  sacramental 
ministration  within  its  own  walls. ^ 

In  the  Middle  Ages  what  had  before  been  the  exception  be- 
came the  rule — monks  were  all  received  into  the  priesthood.  So 
in  the  Roman  Church  the  monks  are  still  the  "regular"  clergy. 
Naturally  enough  also,  when  the  monks  were  made  priests,  they 
began  to  establish  churches  and  to  take  charge  of  them.  In  Ger- 
many, we  are  told,  thousands  of  medieval  churches  were  at  one 
time  under  the  control  of  monasteries.  Thus  the  monks'  work — 
if  not  their  manner  of  life — came  to  be,  so  far,  much  the  same 
as  that  of  the  "secular"  priests.  Here,  too,  we  find  the  same 
thing  to  be  true  of  Roman  Catholic  churches  of  the  present  day — - 
many  of  them  have  monks  for  their  pastors. 

^"In  the  fourth  century,  the  century  of  Athanasius  and  Augustine,  when 
monasticism  came  to  the  birth,  it  seemed  like  a  veritable  stampede  from  the 
Catholic  Church,  as  though  that  great  creation  of  Christian  energy  were  no 
better  than  the  evil  world  from  which  escape  was  sought.  For  the  thousands 
of  men  and  of  women  also,  who  were  then  taking  their  flight  from  the  world, 
left  the  Church  behind  them,  carrying  with  them  no  bisliops,  making  no  pro- 
vision for  ritual  or  sacrament.  To  these  things  they  were  indiflferent,  if  not 
averse."  (Allen,  "Christian  Institutions,"  p.  139.")  The  whole  chapter 
from  which  this  passage  has  been  taken  is  valuable  for  its  account  of  mo- 
nasticism as  an  individualistic  movement. 

*Cf.  Telford,  "History  of  Lay  Preaching."  p.  40. 


Individualism:  Monastery  83 

We  are  nut  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  monastery  always 
i,^ot  on  smoothly  with  the  diocese.  On  the  contrary,  there  was 
much  friction  between  them. 

In  the  East,  it  is  true,  the  matter  was  soon  adjusted.  For  here 
the  monasteries  were  brought  under  the  bishop's  supervision  and 
control ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  large  concession  was  granted 
them  that  none  but  a  monk  could  be  made  a  bishop.  The  epis- 
copal ruler,  therefore,  being  chosen  from  their  own  body,  they 
seem  to  have  rested  content  wnth  episcopal  rule.  But  in  the 
West — to  which  our  attention  will  be  confined  for  the  rest  of 
this  chapter — no  such  adjustment  was  practicable.  Bishop  and 
abbot  contended  over  questions  of  jurisdiction.  Some  of  the  en- 
actments of  councils,  in  the  effort  to  make  peace  between  the  two 
parties,  w^ere  to  the  effect  that  no  new  monastery  might  be  found- 
ed contrary  to  the  bishop's  will ;  that,  although  the  monastery  was 
to  elect  its  own  abbot,  the  bishop  might  depose  him  for  cause, 
but  must  allow  him  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  archbishop  or  to 
an  assembly  of  abbots ;  that  the  bishop  should  not  ordain  a  monk 
without  the  abbot's  consent,  and  should  not  forbid  any  of  his 
priests  or  deacons  to  take  the  monastic  vows.  Nevertheless,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  theory  or  the  enactments  of  councils, 
there  is  evidence  that  the  episcopal  control  of  the  monastery  was 
chiefly  nominal. 

If,  however,  the  monastery  was  denied  the  sympathy  and  har- 
monious cooperation  of  its  diocesan  bishop,  it  found  a  powerful 
friend  and  supjwrter  in  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  The  pope  abetted 
its  cause  in  many  ways.  And  this  papal  patronage  may  be  ex- 
plained in  some  measure  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  popes  Avere 
themselves  monks — the  order  of  Benedictines  furnishing  no  few- 
er than  twenty- four  in  eight  hundred  years — and  that  in  this 
number  were  Gregory  the  Great,  father  of  the  medieval  papacy, 
and  Gregory  the  Seventh,  its  greatest  representative.  But  apart 
from  this  incidental  fact,  one  may  easily  recognize  a  strong  tie 
of  sympathy  between  the  papal  throne  and  the  cloister.  Neither 
was   national,   patriotic,   deferential   and   peaceable   toward   the 


84  Christianity  as  Organised 

state ;  both  were  cosmopolitan,  world-wide,  in  their  conceptions 
and  aims. 

Now  the  typical  bishop  was  "secular ;"  he  wished  to  stand  well 
with  the  civil  authorities ;  he  would  put  forth  no  extreme  views 
either  of  personal  or  of  churchly  authority ;  he  would  adjust  the 
Church  to  the  State.  But  the  pope  was  not  so — he  would  fain  sit 
on  high  and  rule  the  rulers  of  the  nations :  and  the  monk  was  a 
citizen  of  the  earth,  at  home  under  any  flag,  under  any  sky ;  or, 
to  speak  more  accurately,  equally  homeless  everywhere.  They 
both  sought,  therefore,  to  bring  men,  without  respect  to  race  or 
nation,  absolutely  under  the  dominion  of  their  idea  of  catholic 
Christianity. 

Accordingly,  we  find  the  po|>e  inclining  more  to  the  cause  of  the 
monk  than  to  that  of  the  bishop.  In  the  tenth  century  he  ex- 
empted the  powerful  monastery  of  Cluny  in  France  from  all  epis- 
copal control  except  his  own ;  and  he  did  the  same  thing  for  most 
of  the  later  orders — such  as  the  Franciscans  and  the  Dominicans 
— tliat  were  founded  from  time  to  time.  We  also  see  the  monks, 
on  their  part,  becoming  the  most  zealous  of  all  defenders  of  the 
jiapal  prerogatives.  It  was  mainly  through  Boniface,  the  English 
missionary  monk,  for  illustration,  not  only  that  Germany  was 
converted  from  paganism,  but  also  that  both  Germany  and  France 
were  Romanized.  Having  been  made  by  the  pope  a  missionary 
bishop,  he  was  the  first  bishop  that  took  the  oath  of  obedience 
to  Rome.  Also,  when  Hildebrand  undertook  to  enforce  the  rule 
of  celibacy  upon  the  secular  priests,  and  bishops  refused  to  assist, 
the  monks  used  their  whole  influence  in  favor  of  the  unchristian 
and  heartless  undertaking.  Still  again,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation,  it  was  chiefly  the  monks  who  supported  the  trem- 
bling- papal  throne. 

It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  papacy  and  monasticism  arose,  pre- 
vailed, and  declined  together. 

7.  Monastic  Learning  and  Missionary  Zeal. 

The  two  distinctive  forces  of  the  monastery  in  the  days  of  its 
glory — say,  from  the  sixth  to  the  tenth  century — were  learning 


Individualism:  Monastery  85 

and  missionary  zeal.  Monks,  rather  than  the  secular  clergy,  were 
the  scholars,  the  teachers,  the  writers  of  the  time.  Many  a  pre- 
cious manuscript  of  biblical  or  classic  or  patristic  literature  did 
they  keep  safe  amid  the  ravages  of  barbarism.  Many  a  pupil  of 
theirs  became  eminent  as  a  leader  in  Church  or  State.  It  is  not 
an  altogether  exceptional  picture,  for  instance,  that  has  come 
down  to  us  from  the  eighth  century,  that  of  the  venerable  Bede, 
the  most  renowned  scholar  of  Western  Europe,  spending  his  days 
from  youth  to  old  age  in  the  monastery  of  Jarrow  on  the  Tyne; 
refusing  the  offer  of  a  bishopric;  producing  numerous  commen- 
taries, biographies,  and  books  of  science,  according  to  the  learn- 
ing of  his  day ;  writing  "The  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  English 
Nation ;"  occupying  the  very  last  hours  of  a  saintly  and  laborious 
life  in  dictating  the  first  translation  of  "The  Gospel  According 
to  John"  into  the  English  tongue.  It  represents  what  was  going 
on  to  a  less  extent  in  many  another  monastic  brotherhood  of  a 
barbarous  and  ignorant  age. 

Even  the  Franciscans,  whose  founder,  himself  almost  illiterate, 
feared  and  disparaged  learning  as  an  enemy  to  humility  of  spirit, 
gained  distinction  in  the  thirteenth  century  for  the  establishment 
of  schools  and  the  development  of  scholarship.  Roger  Bacon 
was  a  Franciscan. 

But  the  greater  glory  of  the  monastery  was  its  missionary  ac- 
tivity. Through  the  seven  hundred  years  that  elapsed  from  the 
time  of  Constantine's  patronage  of  Christianity  till  the  ecclesias- 
tical conversion  of  all  the  prominent  peoples  of  Europe,  monasti- 
cism  was  the  chief  converting  agency.  Not  from  the  cathedral 
but  from  the  cloister  went  out  the  missionary  to  Northern  Eu- 
rope, in  the  face  of  incredible  hardship  and  danger,  to  teach  the 
truth  of  Christ,  as  he  had  been  able  to  receive  it,  to  pagan  peoples. 
The  lover  of  solitude  had  become  a  lover  of  souls. 

Of  similar  missionary  significance  was  that  special  develops 
ment  of  monasticism  which  appeared  in  the  thirteenth  century  in 
the  rise  of  the  preaching  friars — namely,  the  Franciscans  and  the 
Dominicans.  In  one  respect,  Francis  and  Dominic  imposed  a 
stricter  rule  upon  their  followers  than  that  of  the  older  orders. 


86  Christianity  as   Organised 

For  while  these  older  orders  forbade  their  members  to  hold 
property  individually,  the  monastery  itself  was  bound  by  no 
vow  of  poverty,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  numerous  cases  grew 
very  wealthy.  But  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  were  for- 
bidden to  hold  property  either  individually  or  as  a  society ;  the 
monastery  was  to  have  no  resources  of  its  own.  Yet  the  brothers 
were  to  lead  a  distinctively  busy  and  enterprising  life. 

When  asked  whether  prayer  or  preaching  is  more  pleasing  to 
God,  Francis  answered :  "It  is  a  hard  question,  but  one  considera- 
tion is  decisive.  The  only  Son  of  God  came  down  from  the  bosom 
of  the  Father  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  We,  too,  must  follow  his 
pattern.  We  must  give  up  our  quiet  and  go  forth  to  toil."  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Franciscans  might  be  seen  traveling  and  preach- 
ing far  and  wide,  and  in  supposed  imitation  of  the  example  of  the 
Apostles,  depending  for  support  upon  the  alms  of  the  people. 
Clad  in  coarse  frocks,  they  went  gently  begging  their  way.  And 
that  they  might  thus  go  preaching  everywhere  unembarrassed  by 
ecclesiastic  restrictions,  they  were  not  only  entirely  freed  by  the 
pope  from  the  bishops'  control,  but  also  authorized  to  enter  any 
parish  with  or  without  the  consent  of  its  priest,  and  teach,  or 
say  mass,  or  hear  confessions  and  grant  absolution.  And  every- 
where they  got  a  hearing;  for  their  manner  of  life,  so  unlike  that 
of  the  average  parish  priest,  made  the  impression  of  enthusiastic 
devotion  to  the  good  of  others. 

Moreover,  they  fixed  their  homes  in  the  cities  rather  than  in 
the  country.  There  the  Franciscans  built  their  convents — not  in 
the  secluded  valley  or  other  rural  retreat,  as  was  preferably  done 
by  the  older  orders,  but  in  the  midst  of  the  people.  Theirs  were 
not  the  pure  and  peaceful  surroundings  of  the  agriculturalist — 
gardens,  orchards,  meadows,  and  forests :  they  were  slum  dwell- 
ers, "the  Salvation  Army  of  the  thirteenth  century." 

Now  between  the  first,  or  hermit,  idea  of  monasticism  and  the 

last,  or  missionary,  idea — for  example,  between  Simon  Stylites 

on  his  pillar,  ^^^.^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^ 

Thrice  multiplied  by  superhuman  pangs.     .     . 
A  sign  betwixt  the  meadow  and  the  cloud, 


Iiidiridualisai:  Monastery  87 

and  Francis  of  Assisi  proclaiming  a  gospel  of  love  wherever  he 
could  find  a  handful  of  hearers — the  difference  is  well-nigh  a 
contrast.  Here  certainly  was  development  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. 

And  there  was  at  least  the  suggestion  of  a  larger  development. 
Under  the  influence  and  direction  of  Francis,  a  Second  Order 
(  namely,  of  nuns)  arose,  and  then  a  Third  Order,  the  Tertiaries. 
Tiiese  were  neither  monks  nor  nuns,  but  men  and  women  at  home, 
in  the  common  ways  of  life,  who  pledged  themselves  to  follow 
Francis's  Rule  as  to  the  spirit  though  not  as  to  the  letter.  They 
were  instructed  to  serve  God  in  the  home  and  the  family  as  de- 
votedly as  the  monk  was  set  apart  to  serve  in  the  cloister.  The 
Third  Order,  no  less  than  the  First  and  the  Second,  were  to  offer 
their  daily  life  as  a  service  to  God. 

Indeed,  according  to  Francis's  latest  biographer,  this  larger  fol- 
lowing of  Tertiaries — which  is  reported  to  be  showing  signs  of 
revival  at  the  present  time — represented  the  founder's  original 
idea.  That  is  to  say,  his  idea  was  not  so  much  to  found  an  order 
as  to  extend  the  religion  of  love  among  the  people.'  If  this  be 
the  true  interpretation  of  Francis's  mind,  it  marks  the  very  farthest 
advance  of  mouasticism  beyond  its  starting  point.  For  here  is 
not  simply  the  constant  doing  of  missionary  work,  but  essentially 
the  same  Christian  perfection  to  be  followed  in  all  circumstances, 
callings,  and  situations  of  life. 

8.  Decline  of  Monasticism. 

As  to  the  cloister  itself,  we  are  not  to  imagine  it  to  have  ever 
been  a  charmed  inclosure  which  the  moral  abominations  of  the 
world  were  effectually  forbidden  to  enter.  Even  in  its  earlier 
historv  it  sometimes  offered  no  uncongenial  soil  to  vice  and  evil 
passions.  There  were  disorderly  monks,  and  monks  of  scandalous 
life.  Jerome,  enthusiastic  promoter  of  the  monastery  as  he  was, 
tells  of  evil-minded  monks  of  his  early  day  "worming  their  way 
into  favor  with  the  rich,  and  pretending  to  fast,  while  they  re- 


^Sabatier,  "Life  of  St.  Fra"fi^  of  .\?sisi,"  pp.  155,  T56. 


88  Christianity  as  Organlzxd 

paid  themselves  with  nightly  revelry.'"  Efforts  at  reform  were 
made,  esi^ecially  by  the  monastery  of  Cliiny,  fonnded  in  the  early 
part  of  the  tenth  century,  which  would  seem  to  have  been  for 
several  medieval  centuries  a  genuine  reforming  agency. 

But  the  later  history  of  the  monastic  orders,  without  excep- 
tion, was  marked  by  gross  moral  deterioration.  Fanaticism  might 
have  been  expected  to  appear  from  the  first ;  but  it  became  cold- 
blooded and  inhuman.  Even  the  murder  of  Hypatia  by  the  mad 
monks  of  Alexandria  v^as  a  merciful  procedure  as  compared  with 
the  diabolical  cruelty  of  the  Holy  Office  of  the  Inquisition,  in 
which  the  Dominican  friars  were  leading  spirits  and  the  Fran- 
ciscans also  sought  and  obtained  a  part. 

Nor  was  murderous  fanaticism  by  any  means  all.  These  same 
followers  of  Dominic  and  of  Francis  became  notorious  for  un- 
cleanness  and  rascality.  They  made  their  way  into  a  neighbor- 
hood, a  church,  a  home,  to  debauch  and  to  rob.  They  were 
looked  upon  by  the  people  wnih  disgust  mingled  with  dread. 
They  became  '*a  proverb  and  a  byword."  Yet  they  could  be 
neither  avoided  nor  resisted ;  for  did  they  not  as  priests  hold  in 
their  hands,  to  wield  at  will,  superhuman  powers?  Better 
equipped  corrupters  of  society  could  not  easily  be  imagined. 

Under  whatever  "rule"  conducted,  the  cloister  had  degenerated 
into  a  center  of  vice,  a  sorrow  and  loathing  to  all  right-thinking 
people.  And  it  never  wholly  recovered  the  lost  ground.  Still 
an  institution  of  the  Roman,  as  of  the  Eastern,  Church,  it  has 
long  since  been  shorn  of  its  strength.    When,  only  a  few  decades 

'Suggestive  in  more  ways  than  one  was  such  an  enactment  as  the  follow- 
ing, which  was  brought  forward  by  the  Emperor  Marcian  at  Chalcedon  in 
451  :  "Those  who  lead  a  true  and  genuine  monastic  life  shall  receive  due 
honor.  As,  however,  some,  assuming  the  monastic  state  for  a  pretense,  con- 
fuse the  aflfairs  of  Church  and  State,  and  go  about  in  the  cities  indiscrimi- 
nately, ...  the  Synod  decrees,  .  .  .  that  the  monks  of  each  neigh- 
borhood and  city  shall  be  subject  to  the  bishop,  that  they  love  quiet,  and  give 
themselves  only  to  fasting  and  prayer,  .  .  .  that  they  do  not  encumber 
themselves  with  ecclesiastical  affairs  or  take  part  in  them  except  when,  in 
case  of  necessity,  they  are  required  to  do  so  by  the  bishop  of  the  city." 
("Council  of  Chalcedon."  Can.  4.") 


IndividuaVisui:  M onastcry  89 

ago,  the  monasteries  of  Italy  were  suppressed  by  the  civil  gov- 
ernment, the  reigning  pontiff,  Pins  IX. — though  in  an  encycHcal 
letter  he  had  described  the  rehgious  orders  as  "the  bulwark  and 
ornament  of  the  Christian  rehgion  as  well  as  of  civil  society'' — 
is  reix)rted  to  have  said :  "It  was  the  devil's  work ;  but  the  good 
God  will  turn  it  into  a  blessing,  since  their  destruction  was  the 
only  reform  possible  to  them." 

Monasteries  of  the  present  day,  generally  speaking,  comprise 
three  classes  of  members — namely,  priests,  students  for  the  priest- 
hood, and  lay  brothers. 

The  outside  work  is  done  by  the  priests.  They  usually  have, 
in  connection  with  the  monastery,  a  congregation  of  their  own 
to  minister  to,  in  public  and  in  private,  just  as  the  secular  priest 
ministers  in  his  parish.  They  may  also  take  the  places  of  parish 
priests  temporarily  absent  from  their  charges,  and  are  called  upon 
to  preach  special  sermons,  here  and  there,  and  to  hold  "retreats." 
A  still  more  important  service  of  the  regular,  or  monastic,  priest 
is  that  of  a  missioner.  Nearly,  if  not  quite,  all  monasteries,  it 
seems,  have  one  or  more  priests,  probably  their  most  effective 
preachers,  who  are  often  absent  holding  missions  in  different 
parts  of  the  country. 

As  to  the  moral  life  of  the  monastery  of  to-day,  such  trust- 
worthy evidence  as  is  available  seems  to  show  it  to  be  not  of  a 
high  type,  and  yet  by  no  means  so  low  as  some  of  its  adverse 
critics  have  pictured  it. 


VL 

INDIVIDUALISM:  THE  PROTESTANT  CON- 
GREGATION. 

The  stronger  the  personality,  the  stronger  the  possible  char- 
acter. The  Church,  therefore,  in  the  formation  of  Christian  char- 
acter, is  not  to  hinder  but  on  the  contrary  to  help  the  growth 
of  personality.  And  in  order  to  do  this,  she  will  have  to  be,  in 
connection  with  all  her  governing  and  caretaking  and  sociality, 
a  giver  and  guardian  of  liberty.  For  liberty  is  the  very  air  which 
a  person  must  breathe  if  he  would  be  a  person  indeed.  To  be- 
come himself,  not  the  replica  of  some  greater  and  original  picture, 
not  the  echo  of  some  living  voice,  he  must  be  free,  standing  strong 
in  his  own  will  and  individuality. 

The  school-teacher  finds  it  so,  and  feels  himself  amply  re- 
warded when  he  can  educate  the  pupil  to  regulate  his  conduct  by 
principles  of  his  own  rather  than  by  fear  of  the  master  or  the 
rules  of  the  school.  When  John  \\^esley's  famous  Kingswood 
School  required  that  the  boys  should  spend  their  whole  time,  by 
day  and  night,  in  the  presence  of  a  master,  it  was  attempting  to 
purchase  protection  against  youthful  vices  at  the  cost  of  the  re- 
pression- rather  than  the  guidance  of  personality.  True,  it  is  a 
painfully  difficult  problem  to  determine  just  how  much  to  trust 
the  young  and  immature  without  immediate  personal  supervision  ; 
but  assuredly  it  is  a  mistake  not  to  trust  them  at  all.  One  must 
gradually  learn  to  walk  alone,  even  at  the  cost  of  an  occasional 
fall.  And  the  teacher  has  no  greater  joy  than  to  become  useless 
to  the  pupil.  Or  take  the  case  of  the  parent.  He  finds  it  wise  to 
permit  the  child  to  do  many  things  of  himself  and  in  his  own 
way,  rather  than  take  them  out  of  his  hand  and  continually  bid 
him :  "Do  it  thus,  as  I  do."  The  civil  government,  likewise,  suc- 
ceeds in  building  up  the  finest  citizenship  only  through  the  prac- 
tice of  democratic  principles.  The  Church,  therefore,  in  its 
(90) 


Individualism:  Protestant  Congregation  91 

sphere,  as  a  guide  and  mother  of  souls,  was  not  likely  to  find  it 
otherwise. 

But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  method  of  the  Church,  listening  as 
she  did  to  other  voices  than  those  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  be- 
came in  great  measure  unfavorable  to  the  spiritual  freedom  and 
individualism  of  the  soul.  It  was  against  her  barren  or  oppressive 
ecclesiasticism  that  the  Christian  monk,  not  directly  but  Indirect- 
ly, not  with  his  lips  but  with  his  life,  protested.  For  its  asser- 
tion, then,  of  personal  spiritual  powers  in  an  age  of  civil  and 
ecclesiastic  imperialism,  as  well  as  for  its  testimony  to  the  worth 
of  the  lowest-born  man  in  the  later  age  of  feudalism,  and  for 
many  useful  and  beneficent  works.  Christian  monasticism  may 
claim  the  grateful  recognition  of  the  world. 

But  its  abounding  evils  were  inevitable.  They  were  the  proper 
fruits  of  its  misconception  of  the  Christian  gospel.  For  it  knew 
not  the  mind  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Setting  itself  against  the  com- 
mon sympathies  of  humanity,  despising  the  Divine  institution  of 
the  family,  bidding  men  run  away  from  the  moral  dangers  and 
perplexing  problems  of  society,  instead  of  facing  them  with  a 
strong  and  patient  spirit  in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  it  was 
foredoomed  to  failure. 

I.  The  Reformation  Protest  against  Invasion  of 
Personality, 

But  a  direct  and  far  more  formidable  protest,  which  for  many 
a  year  had  been  gathering  unconscious  strength,  found  eventually 
a  compelling  voice.  For  religion  was  not  dead.  Christianity  had 
not  withered  down  into  a  sapless  root.  There  was  deep  mystic 
piety  here  and  there.  Strong  demands  for  a  moral  reformation 
of  the  Church  had  been  made,  in  various  forms,  again  and  again. 
These  demands  were  lightly  or  scornfully  disregarded  by  the  hier- 
archy till  at  last  reformation  in  both  doctrine  and  morals  broke 
forth  as  revolution. 

\\'hatever  true  individualism  was  embodied,  either  in  the  ear- 
lier or  the  later  forms  of  monasticism,  now  appeared,  free  from 
ascetic  observances,  in  the  churches  of  Protestantism.     For  the 


92  Christianity   as   Organised 

Protestant  Christian  asserted  indeiienclence  not  by  flight  but  by 
resistance.  He  won  his  peace  with  a  sword.  He  threw  off  the 
spiritual  despotism  of  the  Church,  denying  the  false  assumptions 
of  pope  and  council.*  Not  merely  instituting,  like  the  monk,  a 
homiletic  worship  of  his  own  apart  from  the  services  of  the  par- 
ish church,  he  rejected  these  services.  Not  divesting  himself  of 
the  common  human  instincts  and  relationships  in  order  to  care 
for  his  own  soul,  he  attempted  the  higher  task  of  building  up  a 
Christian  character  with  the  aid  of  these  instincts  and  relation- 
ships. Rejecting  self-effacement,  he  made  choice  of  self-control. 
Earnestly  desiring  to  be  a  spiritual  freeman,  he  would  fain  find 
his  freedom  in  taking  the  everyday  world  as  it  was  and  trying 
to  make  it  somewhat  better.  Such  was  the  ideal  and  the  en- 
deavor. 

Hence  the  Protestant  churches  were  not  organized  in  some 
chosen  place  of  retreat,  but,  like  the  existing  parish  churches,  in 
the  midst  of  society.  Not  the  secluding  convent  wall,  but  the 
lampstand,  bearing  the  lighted  lamp,  may  be  taken  as  their  sym- 
bol. And  we  are  reminded  that  the  same  was  a  New  Testament 
symbol  of  the  churches. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that,  while  individualism  did 
find  something  of  a  nursery  in  monasticism  at  its  best  estate. 
Protestantism  has  been  its  training  school  and  the  modern  world 
its  field  of  action. 

Nor  can  it  be  regarded  as  an  accidental  or  unmeaning  circum- 
stance that  the  leader  of  the  Reformation  should  have  come  out 

^"It  [the  Reformation]  was  in  its  essence  the  assertion  of  the  principle  of 
individuality — that  is  to  say,  of  true  spiritual  freedom.  Hitherto  the  personal 
consciousness  had  been  a  faint  and  broken  reflection  of  the  universal ;  obe- 
dience had  been  held  the  first  of  religious  duties ;  truth  had  been  conceived 
as  something  external  and  positive,  which  the  priesthood,  who  were  its  stew- 
ards, were  to  communicate  to  the  passive  layman,  and  whose  saving  virtue 
lay  not  in  being  felt  and  known  by  him  to  be  the  truth,  but  in  a  purely 
formal  and  unreasoning  acceptance.  ...  It  was  proclaimed  that  the  in- 
dividual spirit,  while  it  continued  to  mirror  .itself  in  the  world-spirit,  had 
nevertheless  an  independent  existence  as  a  center  of  self-issuing  force,  and 
was  to  be  in  all  things  active  rather  than  passive."  (Bryce,  "The  Holy 
Roman  Empire,"  pp.  328,  329.) 


Individualisin:  Protestant  Congregation  93 

of  a  monastery.  Note  the  representative  character  of  ATartin 
TAither's  personal  exi>erience  and  course  of  action.  When  the 
talented  young-  student,  looking  forward  to  the  profession  of 
law.  became  anxiously  concerned  about  his  spiritual  welfare, 
the  course  which  seemed  to  him  most  truly  Christian  was  to  as- 
sume the  monastic  vows.  Therein  was  the  way  to  the  "religious" 
life.  He  would  spend  his  time  in  prayer  and  study,  practicing" 
divers  austerities,  doing  many  good  works,  and  thus  working 
out  his  salvation.  But  having  found  the  Bible  and  made  it  his 
companion  and  guide,  he  disciualified  himself  thereby  for  con- 
ventual restrictions.  The  Bible  opened  to  him  a  higher  path  of 
life  which  he  must  needs  pursue. 

At  first  there  was  no  thought  of  opposing  the  theology  of  the 
Church.  His  own  theology  was  the  outgrowth  of  personal  expe- 
rience. He  had  received  the  peace  of  forgiveness  as  the  free  gift 
of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  before  ever  his  voice  was  lifted  up  against 
the  dogma  of  the  merit  of  good  works.  But  at  all  hazards  he 
must  be  true  to  his  convictions.  So  therefore  the  great  individu- 
alist, delivered  through  the  gospel  of  justification  by  faith  alike 
from  priestly  domination  and  from  self-imposed  ascetic  obser- 
vances, went  forth  to  lead  all  like-minded  souls  into  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  had  made  them  free. 

It  was  the  history  in  miniature  of  an  age-long  religious  move- 
ment. For  generation  after  generation  the  more  earnest  spirits 
had  sought  to  realize  the  true  Christian  life  in  monastic  seclusion. 
Now  through  the  open  Bible  they  would  find  it,  without  either 
priest  or  cloister,  in  immediate  access  to  God  in  Christ  and  in  the 
brotherhood  of  those  to  whom  his  truth  had  been  a  word  of  re- 
lease to  souls  "bound  in  affliction  and  iron."  Luther  was  a  figure 
of  both  the  historic  failure  and  success  of  monasticism. 

And  when  the  "poor  little  monk"  stood  before  the  Emperor  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  the  historic 
scene  which  that  august  assembly  witnessed  was  solidarity  and 
individualism,  authority  and  liberty,  ecclesiasticism  and  the  reli- 
gion of  Jesus,  face  to  face,  in  tremendous  conflict. 


94  Christianity  as  Organised 

2.  The  Roman  Catholic  Reaction. 

Christian  individualism  won  the  day.  But  the  victory  was  not 
complete,  and  there  was  a  sharp  reaction.  All  were  not  prepared 
to  follow  the  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment. In  truth  it  is  not  likely  in  any  age  to  be  an  alluring 
pathway.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  often  steep  and  irksome.  It 
is  an  ascent  to  greatness  of  personality,  where  ascending  is  climb- 
ing. To  think  is  a  difficult  operation  of  the  mind.  To  judge 
and  decide  and  act  for  one's  self,  day  by  day,  is  not  in  the  majori- 
ty of  cases  to  take  the  line  of  least  resistance.  It  demands  a  more 
strenuous  exertion  of  one's  powers  tlian  to  follow  a  prescribed 
routine.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  slave  of  a  kindly  master 
may  find  himself  in  love  with  his  chains.  The  emancipated  He- 
brews, rather  than  retain  the  gift  of  freedom  with  its  attendant 
hardships,  hunger  and  war,  were  fain  to  retrace  their  steps,  if  it 
might  be  made  possible,  to  the  land  of  the  brickyard  and  the  task- 
master. The  converted  Galatians,  used  to  the  spiritual  inertness 
of  the  old  legalism,  were  ready  to  entangle  themselves  again  with 
the  yoke  of  bondage.  Similarly  among  the  sympathizers  with 
the  great  forward  movement  of  the  Church  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury toward  "the  freedom  of  a  Christian  man,"  there  were  those 
who  lapsed  into  the  old  passivity  and  submission.  The  magic  of 
absolutism  bore  them  down. 

Besides,  not  a  few  of  those  who  did  maintain  the  claim  of  free- 
dom of  conscience  and  the  right  of  private  judgment  abused  their 
freedom  by  violent  contentions  and  party  spirit.  Conservative 
minds,  therefore,  seeing  the  dangers  threatening  the  way  of  the 
Reformers,  were  repelled.  They  feared  a  disastrous  breaking  up 
of  the  social  order  in  both  Church  and  State.  Thus  it  was  that 
Protestantism  suffered  a  serious  check ;  and  Romanism,  not  yield- 
ing an  inch  of  ground  to  the  Reformers'  demands  in  either  theol- 
ogy or  ritual,  defined  its  dogmas  and  fixed  its  organization  by 
the  canons  and  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  more  precisely 
than  this  had  ever  before  been  done. 

Rut  the  extremest  form  of  reaction,  and  at  the  same  time  a 


liidii'idualism:  Protestant  Congregation  95 

leading  agency  in  the  general  reactionary  mcivement,  was  that  of 
a  certain  religious  society  organized  under  monastic  vows.  A 
brave  and  romantic  Spanish  soldier,  Ignatius  Loyola,  severely 
wounded  in  battle,  resolved  while  lying  on  his  bed  of  pain  and 
reading  the  ''Lives  of  the  Saints"  in  the  castle  of  his  forefathers, 
to  turn  away  from  all  worldly  pursuits  and  spend  the  remainder 
of  his  days  as  a  knight  of  religion.  The  soldier  of  Spain,  form- 
ing his  imagination  with  stories  of  medieval  chivalry,  ambitious 
of  knightly  achievements,  began  to  turn  all  the  ardent  devotion 
of  his  nature  toward  the  career  of  a  soldier  of  the  Church.  He 
w^nt  into  retirement;  instituted  a  severe  ascetic  drill  of  "Spirit- 
ual Exercises ;"  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem ;  studied  the- 
ology for  seven  years  in  the  University  of  Paris ;  gathered  about 
him,  through  his  intense  yet  regulated  enthusiasm,  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  human  heart,  and  his  power  of  command,  a  little 
circle  of  companions  or  followers;  together  with  them  took  the 
vows  of  poverty  and  chastity ;  and  on  a  visit  to  Rome  secured 
the  formal  authorization  of  his  proposed  society  in  a  bull  of 
Pius  in.  (September  27,  1540).  "To  those,"  he  said,  "who  ask 
w^hat  we  are,  we  will  reply,  We  are  the  soldiers  of  the  Holy 
Church,  and  we  form  'The  Society  of  Jesus.'  "  Such  w-as  the 
origin  of  Jesuitism.^ 

The  Society  is  under  the  government  of  a  General  whose  power  is  auto- 
cratic. He  is  elected  by  delegates  convened  in  the  city  of  Rome  from  the 
provinces  throughout  the  world.  He  appoints  the  subordinate  officers,  de- 
cides upon  the  admission  of  candidates  for  membership,  dispenses  with  the 
observance  of  rules,  requires  obedience  without  murmur,  argument,  or  liesi- 

"in  forming  a  judgment  upon  the  fourth  vow  [see  page  96]  of  the 
Ji'suits,  and  generally  upon  many  other  points  peculiar  to  the  society,  it 
will  be  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  primary  aim  of  their  founders  was  to 
assume  an  attitude  in  every  way  opposed  to  whatever  was  Protestant.  Prot- 
estants assailed  the  Center  of  Unity,  and  aimed  at  destroying  the  papacy. 
The  Jesuits  on  this  very  account  bound  themselves  indissolubly  to  the  Holy 
See.  Protestants  enlarged  the  bounds  of  liberty  till  it  became  license;  the 
Jesuits  bound  themselves  by  their  Rule  to  unconditional  obedience,  even  sac- 
rificing their  individual  wills  to  the  interests  of  the  Society."  (Alzog,  "Uni- 
versal Church  Hi.story   [Roman  Catholic],''  Vol.  HI.,  p.  380.) 


96  Christianity   as   Orgaiii^ed 

tation,  oil  the  part  of  his  subjects,  in  any  command  that  he  may  issue.  He 
is  served  by  a  cabinet  of  assistants. 

The  territoi"y  of  the  Societ}'  is  divided  into  provinces,  over  each  of  which 
is  appointed  a  Provincial,  and  under  these  arc  the  Superiors  of  the  local 
establishments.  The  General's  residence  is  in  Rome,  where  he  receives  reg- 
ular reports  from  his  subordinates,  and  whence  he  issues  his  commands  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth — wielding  the  Society  as  "a  sword  whose  hilt  is  in 
Rome  and  whose  point  is  everywhere." 

Admission  to  the  Society  is  by  way  of  a  novitiate  of  two  years.  Through 
a  course  of  prescribed  daily  exercises  the  will  of  the  novitiate  is  to  be 
broken,  so  that  he  shall  no  longer  think  or  act  for  himself,  but  only  as  a 
piece  of  the  ecclesiastic  machinery.  Having  completed  his  novitiate  and 
taken  the  oaths  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  he  becomes  a  Scholastic, 
and  passes  through  several  years  of  study;  then  through  a  second  novitiate, 
of  one  year's  length ;  then  (unless  he  become  a  Lay  Brother)  he  is  ordained 
to  the  priesthood,  and  made  either  a  Spiritual  Coadjutor  or  a  Professed;  if 
a  Coadjutor,  he  will  devote  himself  to  teaching  or  pastoral  work,  and  if  a 
Professed,  he  will  take  as  a  fourth  vozv  readiness  to  go  as  a  missionary  to 
any  part  of  the  world  at  the  command  of  the  pope. 

The  Professed  are  relatively  few  in  number,  but  great  in  power;  for 
not  only  do  they  compose  the  Congregation,  by  which  the  General  is  elected, 
but  it  is  also  out  of  their  number  that  the  General,  the  Assistants,  and  the 
Provincials  are  selected.' 

In  choosing'  members  for  the  order,  mental  abiHty  and  social 
accomplishments  are  highly  regarded.  It  was  alert,  skillful,  in- 
telligent workers  that  Loyola  wanted,  not  weaklings  or  recluses. 

But  they  must  think  as  they  were  bidden,  or  not  at  all.  "The 
sacrifice  of  the  intellect"  seems  to  have  been  even  a  favorite 
phrase  among  them.  Let  the  rational  soul  be  discrowned  for  the 
love  of  Rome.  All  powers,  gifts,  aptitudes,  experiences,  and  ac- 
complishments must  be  used  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the 
superior.  This  was  the  vow  that  was  emphasized  above  all  oth- 
ers— blindfold  obedience. 

Does  this  vow  bind  the  Jesuits  to  obey  the  command  to  com- 
mit an  act  which  their  own  consciences  condemn  as  criminal  or 
sinful  ?  It  is  not  so  written  in  their  Constitutions.  But  it  is 
written  there  that  they  "should  permit  themselves  to  be  moved 
and  directed  by  Divine  Providence  through  their  superiors,  just 

'Alzog,  "Universal  Church  History,"  Vol.  HI.,  p.  377-380;  Haiisser,  "The 
Period  of  the  Reformation"  (1885"),  pp.  265-273. 


Individualism:  Protestant  Congregation  97 

as  if  they  were  a  dead  body;  or  as  an  old  man's  staff,  which 
serves  him  who  holds  it  in  his  hand  wherever  and  in  whatever 
thing-  he  wishes  to  use  it."  Loyola  also  gave  this  rule  for  the 
guidance  of  his  disciples:  "When  it  seems  to  me  that  I  am  com- 
manded by  my  superior  to  do  a  thing  that  my  conscience  revolts 
against  as  sinful,  and  my  superior  judges  otherwise,  it  is  my  duty 
to  yield  my  doubts  to  him  unless  I  am  otherwise  restrained  by 
evident  reasons,"  That  the  practical  outcome  of  such  instruc- 
tions should  commonly,  if  not  invariably,  be  the  surrender  of  the 
conscience  within  to  the  powerful  personal  authority  without,  is 
what  might  be  ver)'  reasonably  expected.^  Conscience  cannot 
survive  the  destruction  of  personality.  A  condition  of  its  health- 
ful activity  is  free  individual  choice  in  harmony  with  its  own 
inner  and  divine  commands. 

Accordingly  it  is  a  strangely  mixed  scene  which  the  history  of 
the  Jesuit-idea  has  disclosed.  We  see  the  followers  of  Loyola 
going  forth  in  all  the  world,  on  any  service  however  perilous  or 
painful,  among  heretics  or  heathens,  perishing  of  hardship  or 
disease,  tortured  to  death  by  savages,  giving  themselves  up  to 
live  or  die  in  absolute,  uncj[uestioning  devotion  to  their  idea  and 
their  chief.  We  see  them  winning  as  father  confessors  the  favor 
of  princes,  admired  and  sought  after  as  educators  of  youth,  at- 
taining in  some  instances  to  high  scholarship  in  mathematics  and 
antiquarian  literary  research;  gaining  control  of  great  universi- 
ties ;  exercising  a  predominant  influence  in  the  Council  of  Trent, 
which  defined  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  in  the  Vatican 
Council,  which  declared  the  infallibility  of  the  pope;  stemming 
the  tide  of  Protestantism,  and  even  leading  back  to  the  Church 

•■"What  the  obedience  of  a  Jesuit  especially  should  be  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  may  apply  also  to  his  obedience  to  the  superior  of  his  order.  In  the 
'Spiritual  Exercises*  Loyola  lays  down  the  proposition:  'That  we  may  be 
entirely  of  the  same  mind  with  the  Church,  if  she  have  defined  anything  to 
be  black  which  may  appear  to  our  minds  to  be  white,  we  ought  to  believe 
it  to  be  as  she  has  pronounced  it.'  Under  these  circumstances  it  would  be 
manifestly  impossible  to  see  anything  to  be  sinful  or  wrong  in  what  is  com- 
manded, no  matter  what  the  command  may  be."  (Walsh,  "The  Jesuits  in 
Great  Britain,"  p.  297.) 


98  Christianity  as  Organised 

of  Rome  countries — such,  for  example,  as  Belgium  and  Southern 
Germany — in  which  its  supremacy  had  been  broken. 

At  the  present  time  they  seem  to  be  the  power  behind  Syllabus, 
Encyclical,  and  allocutions  of  Pius  X.  for  the  crushing  of  Mod- 
ernism. They  have  indeed  been  "the  thundering  legion"  of  the 
papal  army.  "It  was  an  evil  day  for  new-born  Protestantism," 
says  the  historian  of  the  Jesuits  in  North  America,  "when  a 
French  artilleryman  fired  the  shot  that  struck  down  Ignatius 
Loyola  in  the  breach  of  Pampeluna."' 

On  the  other  hand,  by  reason  of  their  deliberate  and  shameless 
intrigues,  equivocations,  peculations,  conspiracies,  and  crimes, 
we  see  them  banished  from  the  various  countries  of  Europe  (even 
from  the  land  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition),  their  organization 
dissolved  by  a  papal  decree  for  a  period  of  forty-one  years  ( 1773- 
18 14),*  and  their  name  (taken  as  it  is  from  that  holy  Name 
which  is  above  all  others)  passing  into  men's  ordinary  speech  as 
a  synonym  of  the  most  detestable  trickery  and  conscienceless 
propagandism. 

3.  False  Security  against  the  Dangers  of  Individualism. 

It  is  still  the  law  of  Roman  Catholicism  that  the  hierarchy  shall 
order  all  things  for  the  laity,  whose  part  is  to  receive  and  obey. 
"When  the  mother  stretches  forth  her  hand,"  says  Archbishop 
Gibbons,  "the  child  follows  unhesitatingly.  The  Christian  should 
have  for  his  spiritual  Mother  all  the  simplicity,  all  the  credulity, 
I  might  say,  of  a  child,  guided  by  the  instincts  of  faith."^  The 
child  will  believe  anything  his  mother,  no  matter  how  ignorant 
or  superstitious,  may  tell  him;  and  such  is  the  "credulity" 
which  the  Christian  must  show  toward  the  Church.  Does  he 
sometimes  hear  another  voice,  bidding  him  be  indeed  a  very  babe 

^Parkman,  "Jesuits  in  North  America,"  p.  8. 

*"Since  its  restoration,  it  has  been  banished  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time 
from  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  Bavaria,  Austria, 
the  German  Empire,  and  various  Roman  Catholic  States  of  America." 
(Sheldon,  "Church  History,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  41 1-) 

"The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers"  (1904),  p.  72'- 


Indk'idualisin:  Profcstant  Congregation  99 

"in  malice"  though  not  "in  mind" — "hut  in  mind,  be  men?"' 
Does  he  begin  to  think  for  himself  about  the  revealed  will  of 
his  heavenly  Father?  Forthwith  not  the  guidance  and  admoni- 
tion of  an  enlightened  mother,  but  the  terrors  of  an  august  per- 
sonalized superstition  are  directed  against  him.  They  waken  his 
fears  and  cripple  his  will.  '"'"*" 

Let  a  man  believe  his  personal  salvation  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
a  certain  other  man,  and  his  spiritual  subjection  to  that  fellow- 
man  is  complete.  Let  a  whole  nation  or  millions  of  people 
throughout  the  world  believe  in  the  reality  of  the  pope's  anath- 
ema, and  how  many  will  have  the  hardihood  to  oppose  his  de- 
crees in  either  doctrine  or  conduct  ?  Fines  and  prisons  and  scaf- 
folds are  not  to  be  taken  account  of  in  comparison  with  the  su- 
pernatural terrors  that  are  wielded,  professedly,  by  the  hierarchy 
of  Rome.    The  free  spirit  cannot  breathe  beneath  their  weight. 

The  internal  government  of  the  hierarchy  itself  is,  in  its  turn, 
a  system  of  absolutism.  The  faithful  priest  is  not  to  think  and 
act  for  himself  in  the  name  of  the  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  For 
him,  as  for  the  laity,  there  is  an  ecclesiastic  "keeper  of  the  con- 
science" and  of  the  reason.  As  in  an  army,  enforced  iiniformity 
represses  individual  initiative  and  freedom. 

Now  that  individualism  has  its  own  dangers,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  whatsoever.  But  the  true  security  against  them  is  not  to 
strike  down  the  individual.  One's  feet  sometimes  stumble  or  go 
astray;  therefore  let  them  be  cut  off?  Individuality  means  initi- 
ative, and  initiative — somewhat  like  "variation"  in  the  animal 
world — means  progress.  To  deny  liberty  to  reason  and  con- 
science, then,  is  to  put  an  arrest  upon  the  progress  of  the  soul. 
Indeed,  it  is  to  assail  essential  elements  of  personality.  Is  it  done 
in  the  interest  of  faith?  Such  a  faith  is  not  fixed  upon  the  God 
of  the  reason  and  the  conscience.  It  distrusts  him.  Says  Cardi- 
nal Newman,  toward  the  close  of  his  Apologia,  speaking  of  the 
time  when  he  found  an  end  to  the  trials  of  his  mind  by  submis- 
sion to  Rome :  "Since  the  time  that  I  became  a  Catholic,     .     .     . 

^i  Cor.  xiv.  20. 


loo  Christianity  as  Organised 

I  have  been  in  perfect  peace  and  contentment.  I  have  never  had 
a  doubt."  Nor  will  any  other  man  who  makes  that  sacrifice  which 
is  perhaps  the  easiest  of  all  to  most  men,  "the  sacrifice  of  the 
intellect"  in  matters  of  religion/ 

But  the  j>eace  that  comes  thus — that  comes  through  the  sub- 
stitution of  authority  for  truth,  and  the  cessation  of  rational  and 
reverent  thought — is  too  dearly  bought.  There  is  a  pathetic 
calm  on  the  face  of  the  dead. 

4.  The  Protestant  Solution  of  the  Problem. 

Freedom  and  authority,  liberty  of  the  spirit  and  rational  out- 
ward order,  are  not  contradictory  principles.  But  they  are  op- 
posites.  And  the  question  which  has  been  laid  upon  the  heart  of 
organized  Christianity  is,  how  to  maintain  the  divine  harmony  of 
these  two  principles,  so  that  each  shall  help,  not  hinder,  the 
other. 

Protestantism,  in  making  its  answer  to  the  question,  calls  for 
a  large  measure  of  liberty  in  thought  and  action.  It  is  more  a 
quickening  than  a  leveling  force.''  It  accentuates  unity  of  faith 
rather  than  theological  uniformity.  Men  have  found  themselves 
able  to  follow,  in  the  same  spirit  of  faith  and  obedience,  the  same 
Divine  Christ,  and  yet  to  differ  widely  in  opinion  as  to  Christian 
ordinances,  ecclesiastic  economy,  and  sundry  points  of  theology. 


^It  was  another  noted  convert  to  Rome  who  made  a  similar  assertion  as 
to  the  absence  of  even  a  momentary  shadow  of  doubt  after  his  submission  to 
what  he  accepted  as  "the  one  only  Catholic  and  Roman  Church :"  "I  could 
as  soon  believe  that  two  and  two  made  five  as  that  the  Catholic  faith  is  false." 
The  explanation  (assuming  no  extravagance  in  the  assertion)  would  seem 
to  be  purely  psychological  and  not  extremely  difficult.  When  a  woman  of 
more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  who  had  recently  professed  Romanism,  was 
asked  how  she  could  reconcile  her  mind  to  certain  irrational  dogmas,  she 
replied :  "I  do  not  exercise  my  mind  upon  them ;  I  suspend  my  reason  on  all 
questions  on  which  the  Church  has  pronounced  its  decision." 

■■^"Tf  you  legislate  too  much,  \'OU  may  so  weaken  individual  responsibility 
as  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  Once  let  the  idea  go  forth  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  State  to  take  care  of  everybody,  and  everybody  will  cease  to  take 
care  of  himself."  (Hadley,  "Railroad  Transportation,"  p.  40.)  Is  not  the 
case  of  the  Church  and  her  children  essentially  the  same? 


Individualism:  Protestant  Congregation  loi 

They  have  claimed  the  right  to  differ  thus,  and  to  embody  their 
(Hfferences  in  separate  organizations.  So  the  Lutheran,  the  Re- 
formed, the  Angh'can,  the  Free,  and  many  other  churches  have 
taken  form  and  appeared.  In  them  all,  in  all  the  "variations  of 
Protestantism" — which,  in  a  general  way,  were  foretokened  by 
the  various  orders  of  medieval  monasticism — a  true  principle  of 
individualism  has  been  more  or  less  fittingly  illustrated. 

It  would  be  going  much  too  far,  however,  to  say  that  the 
Protestant  churches  have  always  solved  this  question  of  author- 
ity and  freedom  rightly,  either  in  theory  or  in  practice.  At 
times — especially  in  the  earlier  periods  of  their  history — they 
have  taken  over  and  attempted  to  perpetuate,  under  other  forms, 
the  governmental  idea  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  They  have  de- 
graded authority  into  intolerance.  They  have  misused  discipline 
to  the  hurt  of  personality.     Presbyter  has  played  priest. 

Also,  the  new-found  liberty  of  Protestantism,  by  a  not  un- 
natural recoil,  sometimes  ran  into  a  certain  sort  of  unsocial  li- 
cense.' In  our  own  time  and  in  all  times,  indeed,  individualism 
has  not  infrequently  been  distorted  into  egotism  and  social  in- 
difference. Individuality  may  do  scant  justice  to  interdepend- 
ence. Personality  may  be  perverted  into  a  justification  of  schism 
and  sectarianism.  It  has  been  too  often  forgotten  that  inde- 
pendency without  vital  fellowship  is  a  false  individualism.   Hence 

*"Man  was,  as  it  were,  ushered  [by  the  Reformation]  straight  into  the 
presence  of  his  Creator,  with  no  human  intermediary ;  and  now  for  the  first 
time  large  numbers  of  rude  and  uncultured  people  yearned  toward  the  mys- 
teries of  absolute  spiritual  freedom.  The  isolation  of  each  person's  religious 
responsibility  from  that  of  his  fellow,  rightl}^  understood,  was  a  necessary 
condition  of  the  highest  spiritual  progress.  But  the  notion  was  new  to  the 
world,  it  was  bare  and  naked,  not  yet  overgrown  with  pleasant  instincts ; 
and  even  in  kindly  natures  individuality  showed  itself  with  a  hard  sharpness 
of  outline,  while  the  coarser  natures  became  self-conscious  and  egotistic.  .  .  . 
Individualism  had  to  be  purified  and  softened  by  much  tribulation;  it  had  to 
become  less  self-assertive  without  becoming  weaker,  before  new  instincts 
could  grow  up  around  it  to  revive  in  a  higher  form  what  was  most  beautiful 
and  most  solid  in  the  old  collective  tendencies."  (Marshall,  "Principles  of 
Economics,"  pp.  36,  2,7.) 


I02  Christianity  as  Organised 

too  many  and  far  too  unfriendly  have  been  the  divisions  of  Prot- 
estantism. 

Both  these  errors  have  often  been  found  and  exposed  in  that 
stalwart  type  of  the  Protestant  development  of  individualism,  the 
Puritan.  But  it  is  only  fair  that  we  should  remember  that  here 
they  are  the  errors  of  an  essentially  strong,  courageous,  devout, 
and  conscientious  character.  The  Puritan  would  not  drift  with 
the  tide.  He  would  not  lose  himself  in  the  mass.  He  would  not 
have  his  conscience  toned  down  into  silence  by  the  maxims  or 
fashions  or  rewards  of  worldly  society.  Why?  Because  in  the 
whole  of  life  he  was  conscious  of  his  own  proj^er  personal  rela- 
tion to  God.  Hence  his  passionate  and  persistent  contention  for 
religious  liberty.  Hence  the  touch  of  sublimity  upon  his  char- 
acter. Hence  his  powerful  and  productive  personality.  Not  un- 
fitting does  it  seem  that  both  the  world's  great  Christian  epic 
and  the  world's  great  allegory  of  the  individual  Christian's  life 
should  have  risen  out  of  Puritanism:  one  the  "precious  life- 
blood"  of  a  refined  and  cultured  yet  lonely  spirit  who  was,  "before 
all  things  else,  a  prophet  of  individual  freedom  in  thought;''  the 
other,  the  self-expression  of  an  unschooled  villager,  tender-heart- 
ed but  with  a  face  like  flint  against  the  enemies  of  the  soul — a 
prisoner  for  conscience'  sake,  who  through  long  years  of  bitter 
persecution  ceased  not  to  tell  the  things  which  he  had  heard  and 
seen  in  the  freedom  of  the  King's  highway. 

Now  that  Protestantism  should  not  always  have  kept  itself  free 
from  the  damaging  errors  of  intolerance  or  social  indifference 
is  not  due  to  any  inherent  weakness  in  its  main  creative  idea  as 
shown  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  Luther.  That  idea  has  in- 
creasingly approved  itself  to  be  of  the  very  substance  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

It  embodies  a  truth  and  a  method.  The  truth  is  that  of  the 
peace  of  forgiveness,  inward  righteousness,  Divine  acceptance, 
through  immediate  access  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ — justification 
by  faith.  The  method  is  that  of  personal  experience.  The  soul  is 
actually  to  find  this  deliverance  from  sin  and  peace  of  conscience 
for  itself.     The  true  Christian,  says  Luther,  can  say :  "T  am  a 


Individualism:  Protestant  Coiii^vc Ration  103 

child  of  God  through  Christ,  who  is  my  justification."  The  medi- 
ation of  the  priest  being  therefore  no  longer  needed,  the  soul's 
enslavement  to  him  is  broken.  His  teaching  and  authority  must 
be  in  accord  with  the  primal  sources  of  Christian  knowledge — 
namely,  the  Holy  Scriptures — which  is  the  same  thing  as  saying 
that  as  a  priest  he  goes  out  of  existence.  And  the  gospel  is 
known  as  the  Word  of  God  by  that  experience  of  justification  and 
sonship  to  God  which,  through  its  instrumentality,  arises  in  the 
heart  of  the  believer.'  Thus,  moreover,  the  freedom  which  it 
oflfers  is  not  that  of  lawlessness  nor  of  indifference,  but  the  free- 
dom of  the  law  of  love. 

Now  Luther,  notwithstanding  his  strong  and  incisive  thinking, 
was  far,  temperamentally,  from  being  a  philosopher.  His  tem- 
perament was  passionate,  not  patiently  reflective.  He  was  ill  able 
to  endure  suspense  of  judgment,  even  on  the  most  difficult  ques- 
tions. "I  never  work  better,"  he  declares,  "than  when  I  am  in- 
spired by  anger."  Nevertheless  the  method  by  which  he  proved 
the  great  central  truth  of  the  Christian  life  was  the  same  as  that 
which  was  afterwards  followed  by  the  father  of  modern  philos- 
ophy. For  when  Descartes  started  out  as  an  original  investi- 
gator, turning  aside  from  all  book  learning,  and  making  an  hon- 
est effort  to  rid  himself  of  prejudice  and  prepossession,  he  deter- 
mined to  dismiss  from  his  mind  every  idea  about  which  there 
could  be  any  doubt  whatever.  He  even  went  further,  and  dis- 
missed mathematical  ideas.  One  after  another,  everything  which 
he  had  hitherto  taken  as  true  must  go,  until  at  last  he  v/as  forced 

'Note  the  significant  difference  in  the  grounds  on  which  Luther  and  his 
master  in  theology,  Augustine,  were  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel. 
"For  my  part,"  says  Augustine,  "1  should  not  believe  the  gospel  except  as 
moved  by  the  authority  of  the  Church."  ("Against  the  Epistle  of  Mani- 
chieus,"  c.  5.) 

Along  the  same  line  of  personal  experience  as  Luther's  is  the  Westminster 
Confession,  L  v. :  "We  may  be  moved  and  induced  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Church  to  an  high  and  reverent  esteem  of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  .  .  .  yet, 
notwithstanding,  our  full  persuasion  and  assurance  of  the  infallible  truth  and 
divine  authority  thereof  is  from  the  Holy  Spirit,  bearing  witness  by  and  with 
the  Word  in  our  hearts." 


I04  Christianity  as  Organized 

to  admit :  "My  doing  all  this,  my  thinking,  is  a  fact  of  which  it 
is  impossible  to  entertain  a  doubt;  I  am  conscious  of  myself 
thinking."    It  was  the  method  of  experience/ 

Here  certainly  is  agreement,  manifest  as  well  as  real,  between 
the  way  of  the  evangelic  teacher  and  the  way  of  the  philosopher. 
And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  theologian  and  philosopher,  Luther  and 
Descartes,  have  wrought  side  by  side  in  the  modern  world,  wit- 
tingly or  unwittingly,  for  the  recognition  and  growth  of  person- 
ality." 

5.  Protestant  Authority  in  Teaching,  in  Government. 

Nor  can  it  be  shown  that  the  Protestant  congregation,  open  to 
these  influences,  appreciating  the  testimony  of  experience,  accord- 
ing due  honor  to  the  personality  and  individuality  of  its  members, 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  unappreciative  of  authority. 

Is  it  a  question  of  authority  in  teaching?  Such  are  the  limita- 
tions of  life  that  the  largest  part  of  one's  knowledge,  which  gives 
direction  to  the  largest  part — shall  we  say? — of  one's  actions, 
comes  to  him  through  the  medium  of  authority.  What  do  most 
men,  learned  or  otherwise,  know  of  geography  or  history  or 
science,  or  the  news  of  the  day,  through  their  own  personal  ob- 

^Nor  is  it  easy  to  see  how  this  experiential  method  can  ever  be  set  aside. 
"Of  course  many  questions  may  be  asked  respecting  the  self  which  we  are 
not  able  to  answer;  but  the  self  itself,  as  the  subject  of  the  mental  life  and 
knowing  and  experiencing  itself  as  living,  and  as  one  and  the  same  through- 
out  its  changing  experiences,  is  the  surest  item  of  knowledge  we  possess. 

.  .  For  we  must  never  forget  that  experience  itself,  with  ourselves  as  its 
subjects,  is  the  primary  fact.  .  .  .  Nothing  whatever  can  be  affirmed 
which  does  not  stand  in  articulate  rational  relation  to  the  world  of  ex- 
perience." (Bowne,  "Personalism,"  pp.  88,  Bg,  94.)  Here  begins  all  phil- 
osophic thinking  in  theology  as  elsewhere. 

""Leibnitz  and  Kant,  Hegel  and  Lotze,  and  many  others  in  philosophy, 
even  Goethe  in  the  realm  of  purely  human  culture,  arc  alike  disciples  of  the 
Monk  of  Wittenberg.  The  principle  of  modern  philosophy,  that  the  world  of 
event  or  thought  or  experience  must  be  brought  to  a  focus  in  the  individual 
consciousness,  is,  after  all.  but  the  confirmation  of  Luther's  struggle  in  his 
cell  at  Erfurt,  when  we  wrestled  with  Medieval  discipline,  and  demonstrated 
its  inadequacy  as  the  method  for  training  the  human  soul."  (Allen,  "Chris- 
tian Institutions,"  p.  431.) 


IndividuaUsm:  Protestant  Congregation  105 

servation  ?  They  must  receive  all  this  knowledge  from  those  who 
have  been  better  able  to  learn  it,  or  else  they  must  be  content  with 
ignorance.  So  likewise  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and 
theological  truths.  We  must  accept  the  interpretations  of  those 
who  have  the  ability  and  the  opportunity  to  acquire  such  knowl- 
edge, as  we  have  not.  How  could  the  religious  education  of  a 
child,  for  example,  be  possible  at  all  on  any  other  principle?  It 
may  readily  be  granted  that  all  authority  must  rest  on  truth  ; 
but  it  is  equally  clear  that  much  truth  must  be  received  as  rest- 
ing, first  of  all.  on  authority.  Nor  is  it  irrational  to  receive  it 
thus. 

There  is,  however,  evidently  enough  to  the  modern  mind,  an- 
other side  to  the  question.  Mere  authority,  it  is  clearly  seen, 
cannot  compel  the  belief  of  any  proposition.  Reason  can,  but 
reason  only.  A  bludgeon  is  a  sorry  substitute  for  an  argument. 
The  most  it  can  do  is  to  command  silence — to  "make  a  desert  and 
call  it  peace."  A  man,  then,  amenable  in  his  thinking  to  reason 
only  has  a  right  to  make  researches  of  his  own  into  history,  sci- 
ence, any  department  of  knowledge,  and  to  form  his  independent 
opinion.  It  would,  of  course,  be  folly  for  him  to  attempt  this 
without  proper  qualifications;  but  he  may  not  be  forbidden  to  do 
it  at  all.  And  religious  knowledge  is  here  no  exception.  Let  the 
Christian  judge,  as  he  may  be  able,  for  example,  whether  an 
interpretation  of  Scripture  be  in  accordance  with  the  mind  of 
Christ.  Let  him  read  for  information  and  guidance  what  his 
judgment  may  approve,  his  conscience  bearing  witness  "in  the 
Holy  Spirit,"  with  no  Congregation  of  the  Index  or  papal  allo- 
cution to  take  the  book  out  of  his  hand.  This  is  the  Protestant's 
claim  to  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  religion. 

Or  is  it  a  question  of  authority  in  government?  The  Protes- 
tant congregation  holds  that  government  is  an  ordinance  of  God, 
and  obedience  to  those  who  rule  a  Christian  duty.  In  a  true  sense, 
kings  reign  by  divine  right,  just  as  do  presidents  of  republics. 
The  regularly  constituted  authorities  of  a  church  are  to  be  obeyed. 
But  the  right  of  the  private  Christian  to  a  part  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  is  recognized,  and  the  distinction  between 


io6  Chrisfianify  as  Orgain::cd 

ecclesiastic  authority  and  ecclesiastic  tyranny,  between  organized 
Christianity  and  organized  sacerdotalism,  is  not  ignored. 

^fore  specifically,  a  Protestant  church  will  indeed  set  forth  its 
creed,  either  unwritten  or,  as  in  almost  every  case,  distinctly  form- 
ulated. Both  as  a  witnessing  and  a  working  body,  it  must  have 
some  such  statement  of  the  Christian  faith  to  offer.  Its  appoint- 
ed teachers  are  to  teach  in  essential  accord  with  the  truth  as  thus 
set  forth.  Its  members  are  to  make  confession  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  not  to  inveigh  against  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  church.  But  either  teacher  or  private 
member  may  freely  pass  into  the  membership  of  another  evan- 
gelical communion ;  and  if  any  turn  away  utterly  from  the  faith 
of  the  Church,  the  prayer  that  follows  him  is  not  an  anathema. 
Nor  in  any  case  is  exclusion  from  membership  exclusion,  either 
intentionally  or  really,  either  formally  or  actually,  from  the  grace 
of  salvation.  The  words  of  the  great  apostle-pastor  are  still  the 
language  of  apostolic  churches :  "Not  that  we  have  lordship  over 
your  faith,  but  are  helpers  of  your  joy ;  for  by  faith  ye  stand."* 

It  is,  then,  with  the  ceaseless  interplay  of  individualism  and 
social  dependence,  each  tending  to  perfect  the  other,  that  a  broth- 
erhood in  Christ  is  organized  for  its  world-wide  service.  The 
idea  is  well  set  forth  in  the  paradoxical  motto  of  that  little  classic 
of  evangelic  literature,  Luther's  "The  Freedom  of  a  Christian 
man :"  "A  Christian  is  a  most  free  lord  of  all,  and  subject  to 
none :  a  Christian  is  a  ministering  servant  of  all,  and  subject 
to  every  one."  But  the  same  great  word  had  already  been  given, 
as  personal  testimony,  by  the  Apostle  to  the  nations :  "For  though 
I  was  free  from  all  men,  I  brought  myself  under  bondage  to  all, 
that  I  might  gain  the  more.'" 

^  '2  Cor.  i.  24.  'i  Cor.  ix.   19. 


Part   11. 


OFFICE. 

(107) 


The  apostolic  age  is  full  of  embodiments  and  principles  of  the  most  in- 
structive kind;  but  the  responsibility  of  choosing  the  means  was  left  to  the 
Ecclesia  itself,  and  to  each  ecclesia,  guided  by  ancient  precedent  on  the  one 
hand  and  adaptation  to  present  and  future  needs  on  the  other. — F.  J.  A.  Hort. 

They  dwell  with  the  King  for  his  work. 

— Motto  of  Deaconess  Home,  Mildmay  Park,  London. 

Wouldst  thou  the  holy  hill  ascend? 

Wouldst  see  the  Father's  face? 
To  all  his  other  children  bend, 

And  take  the  lowest  place. 

Be  like  a  cottage  on  a  moor, 

\  covert  from  the  wind, 
With  burning  fire  and  open  door, 

And  welcome  free  and  kind. 

— George  Macdonald. 

If  two  angels  came  down  from  heaven  to  execute  a  divine  command,  and 
one  was  appointed  to  conduct  an  empire  and  the  other  to  sweep  a  street  in 
it,  they  would  feel  no  inclination  to  change  employments. — John  Newton. 

The  various  theories  of  the  Christian  ministry  are  the  key  to  the  entire 
history  of  Christendom. — William  Burt  Pope. 

(io8) 


I. 

OFFICERS  AND  PEOPLE:  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

IDEA. 

Imagine  a  log  schoolhoiise  in  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia. 
There,  some  Sunday  afternoon,  a  Httle  girl  drops  a  penny  into 
the  missionary  box.  The  penny  contribution  is  carried  across 
lands  and  seas  to  the  opposite  side  of  our  planet,  and  with  hardly 
an  appreciable  loss  of  value  helps  to  heal  a  disease  or  to  save  a 
soul  in  Korea.  The  same  thing  will  be  true  of  the  next  Sunday's 
gift,  and  the  next,  and  so  on  indefinitely.  And  if  one  should  ask 
the  name  of  that  marvelous  method  by  the  aid  of  which  so  great 
a  little  thing  is  done,  the  answer  would  be.  Organization.  Not 
through  magic,  but  through  simple  orderly  cooperation,  the 
penny  falls  from  the  child's  hand  into  some  outstretched  hand  in 
the  antipodes. 

Nor  need  the  organizers  of  a  Christian  church  entertain  a 
moment's  doubt  that  they  are  following  a  Divine  method.  For 
the  further  one  goes,  with  observation  and  research,  toward  some 
sort  of  intelligent  acquaintance  with  the  world  we  live  in,  the 
more  astounding  is  the  evidence  that  everywhere  the  Maker  of 
all  things  organizes.  "The  body  of  an  ant,"  we  are  told,  "is 
many  times  more  visibly  intricate  than  a  steam  engine.''  It 
comes  as  a  genuine  revelation,  to  find  that  the  smallest  bit  of 
living  matter  which  the  microscope  brings  within  the  range  of 
vision  is  in  its  simplicity  full  of  complexities,  and  most  beau- 
tifully organized.  And  when  one  follows  the  scientific  imagina- 
tion in  its  incursions  into  the  constitution  of  matter  itself,  with 
the  ever-regulated  and  interrelated  movements  of  its  atoms  and 
electrons,  the  very  last  word  and  the  strongest  conceivable  word 
seems  to  be  spoken  for  the  ideals  of  system,  order,  unity,  or- 
ganization in  the  making  of  the  world.  From  the  electron  all 
the  way  upward  to  the  man,  it  is  the  same  Divine  idea,  endlessly 

(109) 


no  Christianity  as  Organised 

illustrated.  Truer  than  he  could  have  known  are  the  words  of 
an  ancient  sage  in  praise  to  the  God  of  his  fathers :  "Thou  hast 
ordered  all  things  according  to  measure  and  number  and 
weight.'" 

It  is.  then,  not  unreasonably  a  practical  necessity  that  Chris- 
tianity, in  the  doing  of  its  world-wide  w^ork,  should  be  organized. 
But  this  means  that  it  should  have  specialized  organs,  or  officers, 
who,  as  servants  of  the  one  Lord  Christ,  shall  "each  in  his  office 
wait." 

"Even  dumb  animals  and  wild  herds,"  says  Jerome  to  his 
young  friend  Rusticus,  "follow  leaders  of  their  own.  Bees  have 
princes  and  cranes  fly  after  one  of  their  number  in  the  shape  of 
a  Y."  Office,  leadership,  administration  must  be.  It  is  a  neces- 
sity which,  variously  foretokened  on  the  lower  planes  of  life,  as- 
serts itself  universally  in  the  human  sphere.  All  serious  associa- 
tions are  fain  to  organize.  It  is  not  a  conspiracy  of  lawmakers 
and  rulers  that  wills  a  nation  into  existence,  but  the  people  that 
will  the  existence  of  such  officers.  It  is  not  tiie  priests  that  make 
the  religionists,  but  I'ice  versa.  Social  life,  like  any  other,  will 
inevitably  put  forth  organs  for  the  attainment  of  its  ends.  Will 
the  social  life  of  Christianity  appear  as  an  exception?  On  the 
contrary,  it  will  prove  to  be  a  most  conspicuous  example. 

It  is  our  present  attempt  to  trace,  in  the  New  Testament 
writings,  the  processes  of  office-making,  or  organizing,  in  the 
first  Christian  churches.  True,  there  is  nothing  in  either  the 
Acts  or  the  Epistles  that  approaches  a  detailed  account  of  the  or- 
ganizing of  a  Christian  congregation.  Yet  sundry  notices  of 
such  a  process  occur.  In  several  instances  the  appointment  of 
ministers,  or  officers,  is  narrated,  official  duties  described,  or  the 
part  of  the  people  in  government  indicated.  Fragmentary  infor- 
mation, to  be  sure ;  but  by  careful  grouping  of  passages  a  rea- 
sonably fair  outline  of  the  order  of  the  rising  Christian  com- 
munities may  be  made  to  appear.     We  may  hope  at  least  that 

^"The  Book  of  Wisdom,"  xi.  20. 


New  Testament  Idea  m 

enough  will  be  seen  to  illustrate  the  principles  on  which  the  or- 
ganization proceeded. 

1.  The  Beginning  at  Jerusalem,  as  Shown  in  Acts. 

Let  tis  begin  at  Jerusalem.  For  it  was  here  in  the  City  of 
David,  where  the  Lord  had  been  crucified,  and  where,  in  obedi- 
ence to  his  command,  the  Messianic  testimony  of  the  chosen  wit- 
nesses had  begun  to  be  offered,  that  the  first  Christian  congre- 
gation was  formed.  We  know  that  it  began  in  much  prayer,  in 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  a  new  realization  of  the  sense 
of  brotherhood ;  and  that  for  a  short  time  there  was  little  more 
than  simple  association. 

But  we  must  now  follow  the  course  of  events  somewhat  more 
closely.  Immediately  after  the  Ascension  the  Eleven  returned 
from  Olivet  to  "the  upper  chamber."  for  expectant  waiting  till 
the  promise  of  the  Father  should  be  fulfilled.  There  were  others 
with  them,  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  in  all.  Mary  the  mother 
of  Jesus,  certain  other  women,  and  Jesus'  brothers  were  of  the 
number.  "These  all  with  one  accord  continued  stead fastlx'  in 
prayer."  They  elected  Matthias  to  fill  the  vacated  place  of  the 
traitor-apostle  (a  hint  of  organization) — seeking  guidance  in  a 
petition  that  has  been  reported  in  the  New  Testament  story. ^ 

They  were  still  "all  together  in  one  place"  when  the  Pente- 
costal blessing  descended.  Its  symbol  was  the  tongues  of  flame; 
its  reality,  the  Spirit  given  as  never  before  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world,  and  to  abide  with  the  believers  in  Jesus  unto  the  end. 

The  Church  of  the  New  Covenant  was  now  made  possible. 
Many  people,  even  thousands,  at  once  accepted  the  evangel  of 
Jesus  the  Christ.  Becoming  his  followers,  they  continued  in  the 
Apostles'  teaching,  and  in  the  breaking  of  bread  and  the  offering 
of  prayers  together.  Their  fellowship  was  real.  Out  of  a  com- 
mon treasury  the  wants  of  all  were  supplied."  They  were  at 
home  together;^  amid  threatening  dangers  their  prayers  were  as 
the  prayer  of  one  man.* 

'Acts  i.   14-26.         "Acts  ii.         "Acts  iv.  23  {rove  l6iovg).        ''Acts  iv.  24-31. 


112  Christianity  as  Organised 

This  indeed  was  not  the  whole  story.  That  sin'  and  infirmity* 
should  have  stained  the  lovely  picture,  and  shown  that  not  even 
in  those  conditions  had  Israel  reached  an  ideal  state,  is  no  more 
than  the  persistent  power  of  evil  in  human  hearts  might  have 
foreshown. 

Thus,  then,  did  the  Church  of  God  in  the  new  age  of  Christ 
and  the  Spirit  begin.  Sharing  in  the  life  of  the  Living  One, 
she  arose  and  entered  upon  her  awful  yet  glorious  mission  in  a 
redeemed  world  of  sin. 

The  first  distinct  traces  of  organization  are  seen  in  the  ac- 
knowledged authority  of  the  Twelve — the  people  voluntarily  lay- 
ing down  their  money  "at  the  Apostles'  feet""  for  distribution 
among  the  needy,  and  in  the  election  of  the  Seven  to  relieve  the 
Apostles  of  this  administrative  work.*  About  fourteen  years 
later  we  find  presbyters  in  the  church  in  Jerusalem,'^  and  James 
the  brother  of  the  Lord  in  a  position  of  presidency  or  leadership.' 
But  as  to  when  or  how  these  appointments  were  made,  no  infor- 
mation is  available. 

James's  position  of  preeminence  was  unique.  There  is  no  other 
instance  of  a  single  presiding  minister  of  a  church  in  the  apostolic 
age.  How,  then,  may  this  instance  be  accounted  for?  The  sup- 
position that  the  appointment  of  such  an  officer  in  Jerusalem  was 
due  to  the  fact  of  James's  kinship  to  our  Lord,  has  been  made 
with  some  show  of  probability.  At  any  rate,  ecclesiastic  tradi- 
tion relates  that,  on  the  death  of  James,  Symeon  was  chosen  as 
his  successor  precisely  on  the  ground  of  being  of  the  lineage  of 
Jesus'  kinspeople.  Perhaps  there  was  a  hope  that  such  a  suc- 
cession might  be  kept  up  till  the  Lord's  coming  again.' 

It  was  probably  about  the  year  46  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  ap- 

^Acts  V.  i-ii.        "Acts  vi.  I.        ^\cts  iv.  34,  35.        "Acts  vi.  1-6. 

^Acts  xi.  29,  30;  xii.  25.         *Acts  xii.   17;  xv.  13;  xxi.  18;  Gal.  ii.  12. 

^"After  James  the  Just  had  suflfered  martyrdom,  as  the  Lord  had  also  on 
the  same  account,  Symeon,  the  son  of  the  Lord's  uncle,  Clopas,  was  ap- 
pointed the  next  bishop.  All  proposed  him  as  second  bishop  because  he 
was  a  cousin  of  the  Lord."  (Hegesippus,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Bk.  IV., 
xxii.,  4.) 


New  Testament  Idea  113 

pointed  presbyters  in  the  recently  gathered  congregations  of  Asia 
Minor.'  But  this  is  the  only  note  of  organization  in  these 
churches. 

2.  Testimony  of  the  Earlier  Pauline  Epistles. 

Turning  now  to  the  Pauline  Epistles,  it  will  be  well  to  divide 
them  chronologically  into  the  three  following  groups :  those 
written  before  the  author's  imprisonment  in  Rome — Thessa- 
lonians,  Galatians,  Corinthians,  Romans  (ca.  53-58)  ;  those  writ- 
ten during  this  imprisonment — Colossians,  Philemon,  Ephesians, 
Philippians  {ca.  59-66)  ;  and  those  written  subsequently — Timo- 
thy, Titus  {ca.  64-68). 

Two  most  significant  facts  will  meet  us  in  this  study.  One  is 
the  different  rate  of  development  of  church  organization  in  dif- 
ferent localities.  The  other  is  the  prominence  of  the  charis- 
matic ministry,  or  ministry  of  gifts — that,  namely,  of  Apostle, 
prophet,  teacher,  speaker  with  tongues,  interpreter  of  tongues, 
discerner  of  spirits,  worker  of  miracles,  "helps,"  "governments." 
For  this  ministry  of  gifts  was  much  more  prominent  than  the 
appointed  ministry,  or  ministry  of  government,  which  was  that 
of  presbyter  (bishop)  and  deacon. 

In  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  there  is  no  little  exhorta- 
tion to  the  members  of  the  Christian  community  that  they  en- 
courage and  help  one  another,"  but  only  one  reference  to  officers : 
"Them  that  labor  among  you  and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord."' 
And  even  here  the  term  (Trpoio-Ta/icVous)  is  general,  not  technical. 
It  may  mean  prophet-preachers  and  teachers,  or  it  may  mean 
officers  corresponding  more  or  less  closely  to  those  who  were 
afterwards  called  presbyters — no  one  can  tell. 

In  Galatians  no  form  of  organization  is  mentioned.  Such 
words  of  counsel  are  given  as,  "If  a  man  be  overtaken  in  any 
trespass,  ye  who  are  spiritual  [you  that  have  not  given  way  to 
such  trespasses,  but  have  continued  to  "walk  in  the  Spirit"]  re- 


^Acts  xiv.  23.        'l  Thess.  iii.  12;  iv.  9,  10,  t8;  v.  1 1,  14;  2  Thess.  iii.  14,  15. 
't  Thess.  V.  12. 


114  Christianity  as  Organised 

store  such  a  one  in  a  spirit  of  meekness;'"  and  "Bear  ye  one  an- 
other's burdens,  and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ."^  But  this  law 
of  Christ,  which  is  love,  seems  to  be  the  only  law  of  the  Christian 
congregation  that  occupied  the  Apostle's  mind. 

In  I  Corinthians  we  have  the  now  familiar  figure  of  the 
Church  as  a  body,  with  its  various  organs  "tempered  together." 
It  is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  a  unit,  "all  one  member" — the  Apos- 
tle or  the  prophet  or  the  pastor,  for  example,  doing  all  that  is 
done.  It  is  a  vital  unity,  "many  members,"  "one  body" — each 
member,  even  the  "more  feeble,"  having  an  important  part  to 
perform  for  the  general  good.  Hence  there  must  be  no  false 
independence  on  the  one  hand — "I  have  no  need  of  thee'' — and 
no  self-disparagement  on  the  other — "I  am  not  of  the  body." 

Then  follows  the  fullest  enumeration  of  officers,  offices,  func- 
tions, gifts  (by  which  name  shall  they  be  called?)  in  the  New 
Testamenjt :  "And  God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church,  first  Apos- 
tles, secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles,  then  gifts 
of  healing,  helps,  governments,  divers  kinds  of  tongues."'  Also, 
in  the  fourteenth  chapter  such  additional  gifts,  or  offices,  as  the 
discerning  of  spirits  and  the  interpreting  of  tongues  are  men- 
tioned.* 

In  Romans  the  figure  of  the  Church  as  a  body  with  mutually 
dependent  organs  recurs ;  and  the  functions  of  prophecy,  ministry 
(probably  ministration  to  bodily  needs),  teaching,  giving,  ruling 
(the  same  word  as  in  Thessalonians.  -n-poia-Tdfievo^)  and  others 
are  designated;  and,  as  in  Corinthians,  these  are  called  gifts 
( ^apiVfuiTa)  from  God.^  But  no  particular  form  of  organization 
is  either  prescribed  or  suggested.  Indeed,  the  salutation  of  the 
Epistle  is  not  even  addressed  to  a  church,  or  congregation,  at 
Rome,  but  simply  to  "all  who  are  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God."' 

In  Ephesians  there  is  an  enumeration  of  Christian  ministers, 
as  follows :  "And  he  gave  some  to  be  Apostles,  and  some  proph- 


'Gal.  vi.   I.  *vs.   13,  26,  29. 

*Gal.  vi.  2.  *Roin.  xii.  4-8. 

'i  Cor.  xii.  28.  'Rom.   i.  7. 


Nezv  Testament  Idea  115 

ets,  and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers/  In 
this  passage,  which  should  be  compared  with  the  parallel  passage 
in  Corinthians,  the  evangelist  (or  preacher  to  the  unevangelized) 
finds  a  place  between  the  prophet  and  the  pastor,  or  teacher  (the 
two  latter  names  probably  indicating  the  same  office).  But  this 
is  the  only  additional  class  of  ministers  mentioned. 

In  Colo'Ssians  we  read  of  ministers,  of  a  ministry  "received  in 
the  Lord,"  and  of  "fellow- workers  unto  the  kingdom  of  God;" 
but  not  of  any  more  specific  offices  or  officers  .of  the  Christian 
faith. 

Thus  far,  then,  in  the  Pauline  Epistles,  no  distinct  reference 
is  made  to  regularly  elected  and  ordained  officials  of  the  Church. 
Only  a  non-official  ministry  is  mentioned.  There  are  spiritual 
gifts  that  qualify  for  callings  which  take  form  in  services;  but 
are  these  callings  ministries,  or  offices,  and  these  servants  of  the 
Church  ministers,  or  officers?  Only,  it  would  seem,  in  a  non- 
technical, non-official  sense. 

ft  is  also  worthy  of  more  than  a  passing  notice  that  in  this 
charismatic  ministry  the  Apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  and 
teachers  were  of  a  higher  order  than  the  otliers.  For  theirs  was 
not  distinctly  a  ministry  of  miraculous  signs  or  physical  benefits 
or  government — not  "miracles,"  "healings,"  "helps,"  "govern- 
ments," "tongues."  It  was  a  ministration  of  the  living  word  of 
God ;  and  accordingly  these  Apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  and 
teachers  may  be  described  by  way  of  distinction  as  the  prophetic 
mUnstry. 

Let  us  not  go  too  fast.  If  necessary,  we  may  be  content  to 
linger  a  few  moments  to  make  sure  of  getting  a  clear  and  re- 
memberable  impression.  The  prophetic  ministries — those  of 
Apostle,  prophet,  evangelist,  teacher — were  beyond  all  compari- 
son the  greater.  These  men  were  the  bearers  of  the  word  of 
salvation.  They  were  the  revealers  of  the  mystery  of  grace,  which 
had  been  hid  from  ages  and  generations,  that  God  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself.     "Go  preach  the  gospel — ^ye 

^ch.  iv.  II. 


ii6  Christianity  as  Organized 

shall  receive  power — ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  nic."  This  was 
tiie  Christ's  commission  to  these  ministers  of  preaching  ar;d 
teaching.  And  their  message  has  never  ceased  to  be  transmitted 
from  tongue  to  tongue  through  the  Christian  ages.  So  that 
Christianity  may  aptly  be  described  as  the  religion  of  "the  word."' 
But  there  were  lesser  ministries — miracles,  healings,  helps, 
governments,  tongues — good  and  wonderful  in  themsehes  and 
subsidiary  to  the  greater  ministries  of  preacher  and  teacher.  And 
these  subsidiary  ministries,  or  gifts,  might  appear  either  in  the 
ministrations  of  the  Apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  and  teachers 
themselves,  or  they  might  appear  in  the  ministrations  of  those 
upon  whom  the  gifts  of  the  prophetic  ministry  had  not  been  be- 
stowed. They  contributed  either  to  the  discipline  and  working 
efficiency  of  the  Church,  or  to  the  supply  of  bodily  needs,  such  as 
healing  for  the  sick  and  food  for  the  poor.  They  too,  with  the 
evangel  itself,  were  signs  of  Christ's  coming  kingdom.  And  un- 
der changing  forms  they  too  have  not  ceased  to  appear  even  to 
this  good  hour. 

3.  Testimony  of  the  Later  Pauline  Epistles. 

But  on  taking  up  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  probably  the 
last  written  of  the  letters  of  Paul's  first  imprisonment,  we  meet 
with  a  new  and  noteworthy  fact.  .\  ministry  which  is  recognized 
as  such  by  appointment  of  the  Apostles  or  of  the  congregation — 
namely,  the  ministry  of  government — emerges.  For  prominent 
mention  is  made  of  ''bishops"  and  "deacons."'  So  with  the  Pas- 
toral Epistles,  written  later.  In  i  Timothy  bishops  and  dea- 
cons,' and  in  Titus  bishops,*  occupy  a  prominent  place. 

How  shall  we  account  for  the  fact  of  their  having  no  place  in 
the  earlier  Epistles?  It  is  possible  that  they  have  a  place  there 
under  the  names  of  "they  that  are  over  you"  ("he  that  ruleth"), 
"helps,"  and  "governments."  But  it  seems  very  probable  that 
in  some  of  the  churches  addressed  they  did  not  exist.  If,  for 
example,  there  were  presbyters  in  Corinth,  it  is  difficult  to  be- 

^Phil.  i.   T.  ^ch.  iii.  'ch.  i.  ^-Ti. 


Xcz^'  Tcsfaiiiciit  Idea  117 

lieve  that  the  Apostle  would  make  no  reference  to  them  in  con- 
nection with  the  question  of  discipline  to  which  so  much  of  his 
attention  is  given.'  Yet  it  may  be  remembered  per  contra  that, 
earlier  than  the  date  of  the  very  earliest  Epistle,  there  were  pres- 
byters in  the  church  at  Jerusalem,"  and  also,  through  the  appoint- 
ment of  Paul  and  Barnabas  themselves,  in  the  churches  of  Asia 
Minor.""  Then,  too,  as  to  the  Church  at  Ephesus,  we  have  the 
testimony  of  Acts  that  it  had  presbyters  as  its  presiding  officers 
at  the  time  of  the  Apostle's  homeward  voyage  on  his  third  mis- 
sionary circuit,*  which  seems  to  have  been  four  or  five  years 
prior  to  the  writing  of  the  Ephesian  Epistle,  in  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  they  are  not  mentioned.^ 

This  at  least,  let  me  now  repeat,  is  strongly  suggested:  that 
the  organization  of  the  widely  separated  and  differently  circum- 
stanced churches  was  subject  to  no  one  fixed  and  invariable  rule ; 
and  that  it  went  on  more  rapidly  in  some  cases  than  in  others. 
It  was  more  rapid,  for  example,  in  Asia  Minor  than  in  Corinth 
or  Rome.  And  this  also  has  been  shown :  that  the  ministry  of 
gifts  precedes  both  in  time  and  in  importance  the  ministry  of 
government,  and  that  in  the  mind  of  the  Apostle  the  law  of 
Christ  rather  than  any  governmental  ordinance  constitutes  the 
Church.  First  that  which  is  essential,  then  that  which  is  prac- 
tically necessary ;  first  the  collective  spiritual  life,  then  its  ever- 
changing  economic  form  and  manifestation.  People  would  get 
on  very  poorly  without  houses  to  live  in,  which  they  must  build 
for  themselves :  but  without  the  perpetually  entering  and  vital- 
izing air  of  heaven,  which  comes  immediately  from  God,  they 
could  not  live  at  all." 

'i  Cor.  V.  6.  *Acts  xiv.  23. 

*Acts  xi.  29,  30 ;  xii.  25.  *Acts  xx.  17. 

"It  may  also  be  worthy  of  attention  that  if  the  "South-Galatian"  theory 
be  true,  there  were  presbyters  in  the  churches  of  Galatia  several  years  before 
the  Epistle  to  these  churches  was  written.  (See  Ramsay's  "Historic  Com- 
mentary on  Galatians.") 

'.■\s  to  the  later  books  of  the  New  Testament.  In  Hebrews  xiii.  7,  17 
Christians  are  bidden  to  salute,  remember,  imitate,  obey,  and  submit  to 
their  rulers   (fjyovfievoL,  leaders,  rulers"),  and  in  i   Peter  v.  I,  James  v.  14,  2 


ii8  Christianity  as  Organised 

One  thing  more.  It  appears  that  from  the  beginning  of  church 
organization  there  were  two  classes  in  the  ministry  of  govern 
ment  (just  as  in  the  case  of  the  ministry  of  gifts) — namely, 
overseers  and  helpers.  The  first  were  regular  presiding  officers ; 
the  others  served  regularly  in  some  subordinate  capacity.  The 
distinction  is  foreshown  in  the  charismatic  "governments" 
( Ku/8e/oi/tt(D,  Ht,  "to  steer,"  "to  pilot")  and  "helps"  of  i  Corin- 
thians, and  is  explicitly  given  in  the  appointed  "bishops"  and 
"deacons"  of  later  Epistles.  The  two  kinds  of  service  would  be 
called  for  by  the  needs  of  even  an  infant  Christian  society,  and 
indeed  are  exemplified  in  human  societies  everywhere. 

If  it  be  thought  worth  while,  the  whole  Christian  ministry 
taking  form  and  expression  in  the  apostolic  age  may  be  shown 
in  some  such  scheme  as  the  following : 

Ministry  of  the  New  Testament  Churches. 

A.  Ministry  of  Gifts. 

a.  Prophetic  Ministry  (Apostles,  prophets,  etc.). 

b.  Subsidiary  Ministry  (workers  of  miracles,  etc.). 

B.  Ministry  of  Government. 

a.  Overseers,  or  bishops. 

b.  Deacons,  or  helpers. 

4.  Three  Ideas  of  the  Relation  of  Officers  and  People. 

Looking  now  more  attentively  at  the  relation  of  officers  and 
people,  we  shall  find  at  its  heart  the  three  ideas  of  representa- 
tion, Divine  appointment,  and  service. 

(i)  It  was  a  represcntotiz'c  relation.  In  the  Christian  broth- 
erhood— indeed,  in  any  local  congregation — under  the  headship 
of  Christ,  inhered  all  governmental  and  ministerial  powers.     An 

John  i.,  and  3  John  i.  presbyters  are  spoken  of.  None  of  these  passages, 
however,  gives  any  additional  information  on  our  present  subject.  In  the 
second  and  third  chapters  of  Revelation  the  Angel  (o  ayyeTuoc)  of  each  of 
seven  churches  in  Asia  Minor  is  addressed ;  but  the  word  is  too  uncertain  in 
meaning  to  be  of  service  in  a  study  of  church  officers. 


Nczi'  Testament  Idea  119 

officer  was  accepted  or  chosen  by  a  church  as  the  organ  through 
which  it  undertook  to  exercise  this  or  that  power — its  eye  or 
voice  or  hand.  This  may  be  seen,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  the 
case  of  such  special  and  temporaiy  appointees  as  Epaphroditus, 
Judas  and  Silas,'  and  others:  "F^paphroditus,  my  brother  and 
fellow-worker  and  fellow-soldier,  and  your  messenger  (ottoo-toXos) 
and  minister  (AeiTovpyo's)  to  my  need  ;"^  "our  brethren,  they  are 
the  messengers  (ciTroo-ToXoi)  of  the  churches;'"  whomsoever  ye 
shall  approve  by  letters,  them  will  I  send  to  carry  your  bounty 
unto  Jerusalem/ 

But  the  same  principle  is  illustrated  in  the  permanent  congre- 
gational officers — namely,  bishops,  or  presbyters,  and  deacons. 
Presbyters  were  for  discipline.  But  the  power  of  discipline  was 
invested  by  Divine  authority  in  the  congregation  itself.  We  re- 
mem.ber  that  our  Lord  said  concerning  a  brother's  offense :  "Tell 
it  unto  the  church,  and  if  he  refuse  to  hear  the  church  also,  let 
him  be  unto  thee  as  the  Gentile  and  the  publican  f  and  that  Paul 
wrote  to  "the  Church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,"  concerning 
one  of  its  members  who  was  committing  immorality:  "Do  not 
ye  judge  them  that  are  within?  ,  ,  .  Put  away  the  wicked 
man  from  among  yourselves."'  If,  therefore,  the  supreme  act 
of  exclusion  from  membership  was  a  function  of  the  congrega- 
tion as  a  whole,  all  oversight  and  discipline  may  be  so  regarded, 
the  greater  including  the  less.  And  accordingly  in  the  rule  and 
caretaking  of  the  presbyters,  when  they  came  to  be  appointed, 
the  church  was  judging  and  caring  for  itself. 

A  similar  representative  relation  was  that  of  the  deacons. 
They  were  chosen,  we  may  believe,  for  ministration  to  the  poor. 
The  appointment  of  the  Seven  in  Jerusalem  is  perhaps  a  suffi- 
cient illustrative  proof.'  It  was  the  people  that  contributed  the 
money  or  food,  and  the  "seven  men  of  good  report,  full  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  wisdom,"  that  were  intrusted,  as  an  economic  reg- 

^Acts  XV.  22.         "Phil.  ii.  25.         *2  Cor.  viii.  23.         *i   Cor.   xvi.  3. 
^Matt.  xviit.  17.         "i  Cor.  v.  12.  13.         ^Acts  vi.  1-6. 


I20  Christianity  as  Organized 

Illation,  with  the  office  of  making-  distribution  of  it  to  the  poor 
widows/ 

So  likewise  with  the  ministry  of  spiritual  gifts.  Here  no  less 
really  than  in  the  ministry  of  government  the  idea  of  representa- 
tion is  embodied.  For  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was 
Christ  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  his  mind  and  spirit  in  the 
hearts  of  them  all,  that  made  them  a  church.  Whoever  was 
willing  to  be  "a  man  in  Christ,"  learning  and  doing  the  will  of 
the  heavenly  Father,  became  a  son  of  the  light.  Indeed,  is  not 
the  same  forever  true  ?  Through  no  official  position,  subordinate 
or  supreme,  historic  or  novel,  apostolic  or  post-apostolic,  but 
through  personal  love  and  obedience,  comes  the  illumination  of 
the  Spirit  of  truth.  "Who  is  the  God  of  the  Christians?"  was 
tauntingly  asked  of  Pothinus,  an  aged  bishop  and  martyr  of 
Gaul.  "You  will  know,"  was  the  reply,  "when  you  are  worthy." 
So  the  spiritual  life  of  these  Christians  of  the  apostolic  age,  like 
that  of  the  Christians  of  any  age,  was  a  common  life,  and  con- 
sequently their  spiritual  gifts  a  common  endowment;  all  were 

^Lowrie  regards  the  prophetic  teacher,  in  the  exercise  of  his  X'W^f^f  de- 
claring the  will  of  God,  as  not  only  the  teacher  but  at  the  same  time  the 
lawgiver  and  administrator  of  the  Church :  "The  conduct  of  the  Christian 
assembly  cannot  be  determined  by  the  assembly  itself  in  the  exercise  of  self- 
government,  but  only  by  the  way  of  teaching,  which  declares  what  is  the 
will  of  God  for  the  Ecclesia.  But  this  is  a  matter  which  pertains  to  the 
gifted  teacher,  who  in  virtue  of  his  ;);ap<ff/ia  authoritatively  proclaims  the  word 
of  the  Lord  and  authoritatively  deduces  its  consequences."  ("Church  and 
Organization,"  p.  233.) 

But  is  not  this  only  half  the  truth?  For  not  simply  the  prophetic  teacher 
but  the  people  also  were  under  the  leadership  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  they  also 
had  received  the  "anointing"  which  abode  in  them  and  taught  them  "con- 
cerning all  things"  (i  John  ii.  27)  ;  they  must  "discern"  while  the  prophets 
spoke  (i  Cor.  xiv.  29),  and  must  discriminate  between  the  false  and  the 
true  prophet  (Rev.  ii.  2).  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  "power  of  the  keys," 
the  authority  to  admit  and  exclude  church  members.  Was  this  power  con- 
ferred upon  an  Apostle?  Yes.  Upon  all  the  Apostles?  Yes.  Upon  the 
whole  Christian  congregation?  The  affirmative  answer  must  still  be  given. 
(Matt.  xvi.  13-19;  John  xx.  19-23;  Matt,  xviii.  15-20.) 

So  it  was  the  illumined  judgment  of  the  people,  after  all,  that  was  dominant 
in  administration. 


New  Testament  Idea  121 

partakers  of  like  precious  faitli,  all  had  some  knowledge,  wisdom, 
power  of  utterance,  power  of  ministration  to  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men. 

But  here  and  there  was  a  man  who  possessed  these  gifts,  one 
or  more  of  them,  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  That  was  his  dis- 
tinguishing note.  He  must  use  them,  therefore,  openly ;  he  must 
preach,  teach,  heal,  minister ;  but  in  doing  so  he  was  expressing 
not  merely  his  own  inner  life,  but  that  also  which  was  common 
to  the  congregation;  and  doing  not  merely  his  own  work,  but 
that  of  the  church.  What  was  potential  in  them  had  become 
actual  in  him.  The  prophet,  for  example,  spoke  not  from  with- 
out but  from  within  the  congregation.  He  spoke  simply  as  a 
gifted  Christian,  simply  as  one  in  whom  the  new  life  in  Christ 
which  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  was  striving  for  expression 
in  his  fellow-worshipers,  found  an  articulate  voice. 

In  the  prayer  meetings  of  our  own  day,  to  find  an  illustration 
close  at  hand,  a  person  who  offers  prayer,  either  voluntarily  or  by 
invitation  of  the  leader,  is  expected  to  express  the  devotional 
thought  and  feeling  of  those  worshiping  with  him,  as  truly  as 
his  own.  li  his  prayer  become  purely  personal,  the  unfitness  of  it 
is  immediately  felt.  For  he  is  not  merely  to  go  in  the  way  of 
devotional  expression,  but  also  to  lead.  Similarly,  in  a  church 
of  the  apostolic  age,  whoever  would  offer  prayer  or  praise  must 
do  so  not  only  in  spirit  but  suitably  to  the  hearers  and  the  occa- 
sion, that  the  whole  congregation  might  say  the  Amen  at  his 
giving  of  thanks.'  And  that  which  was  true  of  the  spoken 
thanksgiving  was  also  true,  though  less  conspicuously,  of  the 
word  of  counsel,  admonition,  or  exhortation.  One  spoke  in  the 
name  of  all. 

As  to  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  The  authority  to 
baptize  was  embraced  in  the  authority  to  preach  or  teach,  as 
seems  to  be  shown  not  only  in  the  Great  Commission,"  but  also 
in  individual  instances.'  Accordingly  it  shared  in  whatever  rep- 
resentative character  attached  to  the  preaching  or  teaching.    And 

'1  Cor.  xiv.  15.  "Matt,  xxviii.  lO.  ^Acts  viii.  12;  ix.  17-19. 


122  Christianity  as  Organised 

as  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  was  the  sacramental  meal  at  which 
the  presiding  officer — if,  indeed,  there  were  a  presiding  officer — 
invoked  the  Divine  blessing  in  the  name  of  the  whole  assembly : 
"The  Clip  which  ive  bless;  .  .  .  the  bread  which  zve 
break.  "^ 

In  the  offices  of  Apostle  and  evangelist,  however,  the  repre- 
sentative relation  toward  the  congregation  did  not  always  ap- 
pear. Here,  therefore,  was  an  exception  to  the  rule.  It  is  true, 
when  the  disciples  in  Jerusalem  laid  down  their  money  at  the 
Apostles'  feet  for  distribution  to  the  needy,  the  Apostles  in  dis- 
charging their  trust  were  representing  the  people  as  truly  as  were 
the  Seven  who  afterwards  attended  to  this  business.*  But  such 
was  not  the  usual  procedure.  Characteristically  Apostles  and 
evangelists  were  beforehand  with  the  people.  They  were  orig- 
inators; they  went  everywhere,  under  the  commission  and  com- 
mand of  their  Master,  to  win  converts  and  establish  churches 
where  none  had  been  before.  How  could  they  be  representatives 
of  a  congregation  that  was  just  coming  into  existence  through 
their  testimony? 

Yet  this  also  is  true ;  that  when,  through  the  word  of  an  Apos- 
tle or  an  evangelist,  a  congregation  had  been  gathered,  the  faith 
and  experience  of  this  itinerant  preacher  became  its  own  faith 
and  experience,  which  was  uttered  henceforth  through  him  to 
others.  His  testimony  was  the  more  widely  spoken  testimony 
of  that  congregation.  Accordingly  the  prophets  and  teachers  of 
the  church  at  Antioch  did  not  hesitate  to  lay  their  hands  upon 

^i  Cor.  X.  i6. 

"The  use  of  the  pkiral  'we,'  in  reference  both  to  the  blessing  of  the  cup 
and  the  breaking  of  the  bread,  clearly  indicates  that  it  was  in  virtue  of  his 
representing  the  whole  company  present,  and  not  as  individually  possessed 
of  some  supernatural  gift,  that  the  one  who  presided  at  a  Communion  per- 
formed the  act  of  consecration."  (Ellicott's  Commentary  for  English  Read- 
ers, in  loco.)  Even  so  sturdy  a  sacerdotalist  as  Bishop  Gore  can  go  far 
enough  in  this  direction  to  say:  "We  have  no  clear  information  [in  the  New- 
Testament]  as  to  who  exactly  can  celebrate  the  eucharist  or  who  can  bap- 
tize."    ("The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  p.  246.) 

^■\cts  iv.  34,  35;  vi.  2-4. 


Nezv  Testament  Idea  123 

Barnabas  and  Saul  and  bid  them  go  forth  on  a  great  missionary 
circuit ;  and  so  these  apostles  of  Christ,  indorsed  and  sent  by  that 
Christian  congregation,  were  in  reality  their  accepted  and  ac- 
credited representatives.' 

Reverting  now  for  a  moment  to  the  officers  of  rule  and  ad- 
ministration, the  ministry  of  government,  we  may  note  that  it 
might  have  been  expected  that  they,  being  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  would  have  been  elected  by  them.  And  so  they  were, 
in  some  instances  certainly,  in  others  probably.  The  Seven^  and 
certain  special  messengers  were  thus  elected.^  As  to  presbyters, 
we  are  told  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  appointed  these  officers  in 
Asia  Minor.'  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  people  had 
nothing  to  do  with  these  appointments.  For  the  silence  of  a  his- 
torian is  not  always  an  expressive  silence.  In  this  case  it  may 
reasonably  be  regarded  as  inexpressive.  And  reasoning  from  the 
analogy  of  the  cases  just  mentioned,  of  the  manner  of  making 
elders  in  Israel,"  and  of  the  custom  of  the  sub-apostolic  age,  it 
will  appear  not  unlikely  that  these  presbyters  were  appointed  by 
the  voice  of  the  whole  church  over  which  they  must  preside,* 
In  all  cases,  however,  the  strong  probability  is  that,  where  an 
Apostle  was  present,  his  approval  was  practically  necessary  to 
such  an  appointment.     Would  he,  on  the  one  hand,  indorse  or 

^Acts  xiii.   1-3.  ''Acts  vi.  3,  5.  'i    Cor.   xvi.  3. 

*Acts  xiv.  2Z.  ^See  page  211. 

*It  has  been  maintained  that  a  popular  election  is  meant  in  this  case,  be- 
cause of  the  word  used  for  "appointed"  (.^"/wrovfu,  literally,  "to  stretch  out 
the  hand").  But  while  this  word,  in  accordance  with  its  literal  meaning, 
was  applied  to  an  election  by  popular  vote,  it  was  also  employed  to  denote 
a  simple  appointment  or  designation.  (See  Thayer,  "Lexicon  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament,"  in  loco).  In  the  first  of  these  senses  it  occurs  in  2  Corin- 
thians viii.  19;  and  in  the  second,  in  Peter's  address  to  the  household  of 
Cornelius  (Acts  x.  41). 

Dr.  Ramsay  finds,  in  Luke's  habitual  exactness  of  language  as  a  historian, 
an  argument  for  the  literal  sense  of  the  word  in  Acts  xiv.  23  ("St.  Paul  the 
Traveler,"  pp.  121,  122).  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  very  reasonably  be  held 
that,  in  these  unorganized  congregations  in  Lystra  and  the  other  Asian 
cities,  the  people  would  preferably  leave  the  matter  of  organizing  largely  in 
the  hands  of  the  apostles  through  whom  they  had  so  recently  been  won  to  a 
profession  of  faith  in  Jesus. 


124  Christianity  as  Organised 

ordain  a  man  whom  he  regarded  as  unfit  to  serve  ?  or  would  the 
congregation,  on  the  other,  appoint  a  man  whom  their  Apostle- 
pastor  disapproved  ?  Both  Apostle  and  people,  we  may  reason- 
ably believe,  must  approve — very  much  as  in  the  case  of  the 
missionar}'  or  evangelist  and  his  newly  converted  little  congre- 
gation in  the  present  day. 

(2)  But  all  church  officers  were  acknowledged  as  of  Divine 
appointment.  "God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church,  first  Apostles, 
secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles,  then  gifts  of 
healing,  helps,  governments,  divers  kinds  of  tongues.'"  "Helps" 
and  "governments"  as  well  as  "gifts  of  healing"  or  "prophets" 
or  even  "Apostles,"  let  us  observe,  were  "set  in  the  Church"  by 
the  hand  of  God.  "The  flock  in  the  which  the  Holy  Spirit  hath 
made  you  bishops,"'  was  Paul's  word  to  the  Ephesian  elders. 

How  was  this  shown  ?  By  tlue  very  bestowment  of  the  gracious 
gifts  necessary  to  fit  men,  this  or  that  one,  for  the  office.  These 
charisms,  each  determining  its  appropriate  spiritual  function, 
bore  immediately  from  God  himself  the  authority  for  their  ex- 
ercise. "Having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  was 
given  to  us,  whether  prophecy,  let  us  prophesy ;  ...  or  min- 
istry, let  us  give  ourselves  to  our  ministry ;  or  he  that  teacheth, 
to  his  teaching;  .  .  .  he  that  ruleth  with  diligence."*  Hav- 
ing gifts — such  is  the  Apostle's  exhortation — let  us  use  them, 
and  so  prophesy,  minister,  teach,  rule. 

Many  things  do  not  wait  to  be  "authorized."  The  light  of  the 
sun  asks  no  man's  permission  to  shine:  enough  that  the  Father 
of  lights  has  kindled  it.  The  eye  must  see,  the  tongue  must 
speak,  the  hands  mtist  labor,  because  it  is  for  this  they  were 
made.  Similarly  the  spiritual  gifts  of  God  must  be  used  at 
every  opportunity  by  the  men  and  women*  to  whom,  as  stewards 

^l  Cor.  xii.  28.  'Acts  xx.  28.  'Rom.  xii.  6,  7. 

■•Restrictions,  indeed,  were  placed  upon  the  speaking  of  women  in  the 
congregation  (i  Cor.  xiv.  35;  i  Tim.  ii.  11,  12).  Such  restrictions  were 
needful  in  that  age;  and  in  spirit,  though  not  in  letter,  they  are  applicable 
to  all  ages.  Cf.  similar  restrictions  upon  the  disuse  of  the  veil  (i  Cor.  xi. 
4-15).     It  is  not  to  be  inferred,  however,  that  women  were  forbidden  to  bse 


New  Testament  Idea  125 

of  his  manifold  grace,  they  are  intrusted.  The  attitude  of  the 
apostolic  churches  toward  them  was  that  of  recognition,  not  of 
original  authorization/ 

Was  the  government,  then,  democratic  ?  It  may  be  so  de- 
scribed, but  very  inadequately.  In  the  true  and  fuller  sense,  it 
was  charismatic,  and  hence  theocratic.  Did  the  officers  represent 
the  people?  As  we  have  seen,  yes;  but  more  immediately  and 
truly  they  represented  the  immanent  Christ,  the  Spirit  of  truth 
in  the  congregation.  Was  it  the  prophetic  teacher's  word  that 
was  looked  to  for  guidance  and  law?  It  was  indeed  the  word 
of  God  through  the  prophetic  teacher. 

Hence  it  is  the  gift  and  its  exercise  rather  than  the  office  or 
tlie  officer,  upon  which  apostolic  emphasis  is  laid.  In  the  great 
passage  just  now  quoted  the  second  time  from  i  Corinthians, 
officers  and  gifts  are  coordinated:  side  by  side  with  "Apostles," 
"prophets,"  "teachers,"  are  "miracles"  (not  miracle-workers), 
"gifts  of  healing"  (not  healers),  "helps"  (not  helpers),  "gov- 
ernments" (not  governors),  "divers  kinds  of  tongues"  (not 
speakers  with  tongues).  Why  this  coordination  of  officers  and 
gifts?  The  simplest  explanation  is  that  the  gift  of  "miracles" 
and  those  that  follow  in  this  enumeration  had  not  given  rise,  like 
the  gifts  of  apostlesliip,  prophecy,  and  teaching,  to  anything  like 
distinct  offices  or  officers.  Because  of  the  irregularity  and  in- 
frequency  of  their  exercise  by  any  one  person,  or  because  they 

the  prophetic  gift  under  all  circumstances  in  the  apostolic  churches.  In  fact, 
it  is  plainly  shown  that  they  did  use  it  (Acts  ii.  17;  xxi.  8,  9;  i  Cor.  xi.  5, 
13). 

'"The  Church  was  not  to  develop  her  ministry  from  below,  but  to  receive 
it  from  above  by  apostolic  authorization."  (Gore,  "The  Church  and  the 
Ministry,"  p.  248.)  Would  it  not  be  a  truer  confession  of  faith  that  the 
Church  was  "to  receive  her  ministry  from  above  by"  Divine  vocation,  and 
to  have  wisdom  to  recognize  it  when  given? 

"it  seems  hard  for  the  advocate  of  apostolic  succession  to  understand  that 
'from  above'  is  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  may  use  any 
humble  instrument  to  effect  his  call.  A  John  may  baptize  a  Jesus ;  an  Ana- 
nias may  lay  bands  on  a  Paul,  and  unknown  prophets  ordain  the  first 
Christian  missionary  apostle,  at  Antioch."  (Dulles,  "The  True  Church,"  p. 
191.) 


126  Christianity  as  Organised 

were  not  exercised  in  the  congregation  but  privately,  or  perhaps 
because  of  their  subordinate  spiritual  importance,  they  remained 
as  "gifts"  only,  and  were  spoken  of  accordingly.  But  however 
this  may  have  been,  in  all  cases — that  of  prophesying  as  well  as 
that  of  healing,  that  of  teaching  as  well  as  that  of  speaking  with 
tongues — it  is  the  gift  rather  than  the  office  or  the  officer  that 
is  significant.  Hence  the  immediately  following  exhortation : 
"Desire  earnestly  the  greater  gifts.'"  Not  the  greater  offices  or 
positions,  but  the  qualifications  for  them.  To  receive  and  exercise 
the  charisms  of  the  Holy  Spirit — that  was  all. 

No,  not  all ;  there  was  something  more,  and  incomparably  bet- 
ter. The  qualifying  gifts  were  themselves  to  be  qualified  by  the 
heart  of  love.  Here  is  the  "still  more  excellent  way,"  the  in- 
nermost secret  of  spiritual  power.  Apart  from  this,  even  the 
tongues  of  angels  would  be  discordant  and  the  martyr's  death  a 
vanity.  Gifts  which,  exercised  for  self -gratification,  excite  con- 
fusion and  wrangling  in  the  house  of  God,  when  thrilled  through 
with  the  spirit  of  love  make  for  unity  and  strength.  Gifts  may 
scatter  and  destroy — the  brethren  at  Corinth,  falling  apart  into 
factions,  were  gifted;  "love  buildeth  up."^ 

It  is  in  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth  chapters  of  Paul's  First 
Epistle  to  these  Christian  brethren  that  instructions  are  given  for 
the  regulation  of  the  use  of  gifts.  And  the  intermediate  chap- 
ter, the  thirteenth — what  of  that  ?  That,  as  we  all  know,  is  in 
praise  of  love.  The  order  of  topics  is  significant — a  discourse  on 
gifts  with  the  hymn  of  love  singing  itself  forth  in  the  midst  of 
it.  Which  would  seem  to  say  that  at  the  very  heart  of  all  gifts 
is  that  which  is  incalculably  more  than  any  gift,  the  root  and 
crown  of  the  Church's  life,  the  all-fulfilling  grace  of  Christlike 
love. 

(3)  But  the  combination  of  gifts  and  love  in  the  spiritual  life 
will  result,  as  already  suggested,  in  service.  Is  this,  then,  one 
element  in  the  relationship  of  officers  and  people  in  the  Christian 
congregation?    It  is  the  chief.     Let  it  be  lost,  and  that  relation- 

'i  Cor.  xii.  31.  *i  Cor.  xiii. 


New  Testament  Idea  127 

ship  will  be  utterly  emptied  of  meaning.  Office  is  ministry.  Oth- 
erwise it  has  no  reason  or  right  to  be.  As  well  suppose  the  "gov- 
ernor" of  an  engine  to  be  put  in  position,  as  a  regulator,  for  its 
own  sake  and  not  for  the  sake  of  the  whole  body  of  machiner}' 
and  its  output,  as  to  suppose  a  governor  of  people  to  be  elected 
for  his  own  sake. 

The  principle  is  not  confined  to  organized  Christianity.  It  is 
universally  applicable. 

In  point  of  fact — ami  the  fact  is  worthy  of  more  than  this 
parenthetic  remark — the  same  thing  is  true  also  of  "rei)resenta- 
tion"  and  of  "Divine  appointment."  Stripped  of  what  is  local 
and  temporary  and  of  what  is  distinctively  Christian,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  earliest  Christian  churches  illustrates  the  essential 
principles  of  all  government,  civil  or  ecclesiastical.  In  proportion 
as  any  society  approximates  an  ideal  perfection,  the  relation  of 
officers  to  people  will  be  that  of  representation,  Divine  appoint- 
ment, and  service. 

When,  therefore,  the  civil  office-holder  acts  from  any  motive 
inconsistent  with  the  welfare  of  the  people,  he  is  doing  no  less 
culpable  a  deed  than  to  pervert  the  ends  of  a  divine  institution, 
is  he  one  of  those,  for  example,  whom  Jesus  describes  when  he 
says,  "Ye  know  that  they  who  are  accounted  [or  supposed]  to 
rule  over  the  Gentiles,  lord  it  over  them" — tyrannize,  instead  of 
ruling?  It  is  a  case  of  unfaithfulness  to  the  God  of  men  and  of 
nations.  In  Church  and  State  alike,  the  true  ruler  is  father  and 
friend,  the  servant  of  all.  It  is  the  very  law  of  Christ  that  is 
personalized  in  the  prophet's  vision  of  kingship :  "And  a  man 
shall  i)e  as  an  hiding  ])lace  from  the  wind  and  a  covert  from  the 
tempest ;  as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as  the  shadow  of  a 
great  rock  in  a  weary  land.'"  For  this  law  of  love  makes  no 
exception  of  the  seats  of  official  power.  It  includes  the  world 
from  hovel  to  throne. 

But  subtle  as  the  action  of  any  physical  poison  is  the  process 
by  which  even  the  eager  servant  of  the  Church  may  be  corrupted 

'Isa.  xxxii.  2. 


128  Chrisfiaiiify  as  Orij:;aui.zc<l 

into  the  self-centered  office-holder.  He  may  have  begun  as  a 
very  Stephanas,  setting-  himself,  with  his  household,  to  minister 
to  others. 

More  skilled  to  raise  the  wretched  than   to  rise, 

and  for  that  very  reason  raised  by  his  hrcthrcii  to  some  service 
of  rulership.'  But  now  the  joy  of  self-sacrificing  service  is  de- 
parting from  his  life,  and  he  seems  to  know  it  not.  He  is  yield- 
ing to  the  charms  of  prominence  and  position  in  the  house  of 
God  itself.  And  the  church  might  say,  like  a  neglected  friend, 
"He  no  longer  cares  for  mef  the  meaning  of  wliich  complaint 
is:  "He  no  longer  loves  me."    To  love  is  to  "care  for." 

"As  the  light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun  riseth"  is  the  New 
Testament  teaching  of  this  law  of  unselfish  service  in  office  and 
rulership  in  the  Church.  One  great  word  of  the  Divine  Foiuider 
will  suffice  for  illustration.  He  was  on  his  way  to  the  Cross. 
Yet  the  Twelve,  w'ho  accompanied  him.  had  been  disputing 
among  themselves  by  the  way  as  to  "who  should  be  the  greatest." 
They  seem  indeed  to  have  felt  somewhat  the  shame  of  it;  for 
when  asked  concerning  the  question  in  dispute,  they  had  nothing 
to  say.  Then  the  Master,  who  knew  all  the  meaning  of  their 
silence,  sat  down  as  a  teacher,  called  them  to  him,  and  said,  "If 
any  man  would  be  first,  he  shall  be  last  of  all,  and  minister  of 
all ;"  and  taking  a  little  child  in  his  arms,  he  taught  them  :  "Who- 
socAcr  shall  receive  one  of  such  little  children  in  my  name,  re- 
ceiveth  me."'  What  cares  the  little  child  for  honors  and  author- 
ity and  worldly  "greatness?"  The  Master's  own  heart  was  the 
child-heart,  and  his  liand  the  hand  of  a  "minister."  He  would 
have  it  be  so,  likewise,  with  all  those  who  are  called  by  his  name, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  In  the  kingdom  of  heaven  great- 
ness is  childlikeness  and  service. 

The  true  process  of  office-making,  then,  is  unmistakable  in 
the  New  Testament.     It  is  a  divine  order.     First  the  spiritual 

'i   Cor.  xvi.   15,  16.  -'Mark  ix.  Z2>-?:7- 


Nczi'  Tesfanienf  Idea  129 

gift  qualifying  for  some  particular  form  of  service — teaching, 
evangelizing,  healing,  ruling;  together  with  the  gift,  the  grace 
of  Christian  love,  enkindling  the  heart  for  service;  then  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  imj^arted  gift  in  actual  ministration;  and  then  the 
recognition,  formal  or  informal,  of  such  service,  by  the  congre- 
gation, and  its  regular  continuance  under  their  sanction. 

And  in  this  process  of  office-making  appear  the  three  formative 
ideas  with  which  our  attention  has  just  now  been  engaged :  those 
of  representation,  Divine  appointment,  and  the  service  of  love. 
9 


II. 

OFFICERS  AND  PEOPLE:  LOSS  AND  RECOVERY 
OF  THE  IDEA. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  apostolic  age  church  officers  as  such 
had  no  exceptional  powers.  What  they  did  was  not  some  act  of 
administration  from  outside  which  no  others  could  share,  and 
without  which  no  others  could  come  into  covenant  with  Christ. 
It  was  a  ministration  which  the  congregation  itself  performed 
through  them  as  its  representatives.  The  Christian  congregation 
itself  had  authority  to  preach,  to  teach,  to  baptize,  to  administer 
the  Lord's  Supper,  to  elect  its  own  officers,  to  exercise  discipline 
as  God  might  give  ability.  So  far  as  these  offices  were  com- 
mitted into  the  hands  of  chosen  or  accepted  individuals,  it  was 
a  matter  of  order  and  efficiency,  not  of  distinction  in  spiritual 
power.     There  was  no  clerical  caste. 

In  a  word,  officers  were  ministers  Divinely  appointed  by  the 
gifts  bestowed  upon  them,  chosen  or  accepted  for  service,  and  in 
all  their  functions  representative  of  the  congregation. 

Now  from  this  apostolic  starting  point  the  history  might  be 
called,  in  the  language  of  familiar  metaphor,  the  development 
of  a  planted  seed  just  breaking  the  crust  of  the  soil,  into  the 
many-branched  and  majestic  tree.  But  it  might  also  be  de- 
scribed by  a  very  different  figure.  The  fall  of  the  snow  "from 
white  sky  to  black  earth,  that,"  it  has  been  said,  "is  the  his- 
tory  of  an  organized  faith" — inevitable  contamination  attend- 
ing the  truth  of  Christ  in  the  hands  of  its  organizers.  Perhaps 
we  shall  find  the  two  metaphors  equally  true  and  equally  one- 
sided. 

To  what  extent,  then,  has  the  original,  or  New  Testament, 
idea  been  followed  by  the  subsequent  generations  of  Christians? 
That  is  the  question  before  us  now. 
(130) 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  131 

I.  Idea  Observed  in  Sub-Apostolic  Age. 

The  idea  was  followed  without  misgiving  or  deviation,  sO'  far 
as  can  be  gathered  from  the  scanty  information  available,  in 
the  generation  immediately  succeeding  the  apostolic  age.  Tlie 
relation  of  officers  and  people  was  the  same  as  before.  All  spir- 
itual functions  still  belonged  to  the  local  congregation.  The 
Christian  people  were  still  pennitted  to  preach  or  teach,'  to  ad- 
minister baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,'  to  elect  and  dismiss 
officers,'  to  expel  from  membership  in  the  Church."     And  some 


'Let  him  that  teaches,  though  he  be  one  of  the  laity,  yet  if  he  be  skillful  in 
the  word  and  grave  in  his  manners,  teach ;  for  "they  shall  all  be  taught  of 
the  Lord."     (Apost.  Const.,  VIH.  32.) 

Of  like  import  is  the  case  of  Origen,  who,  as  a  layman,  preached  and 
expounded  the  Scriptures  in  the  public  congregation  in  Caesarea,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  bishops  of  Palestine,  and  was  rebuked  by  the  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, not  for  the  preaching  and  teaching  but  for  doing  it  when  a  bishop 
was  present.     (Eusebius,  H.  E.,  vi.  16-18.) 

*"Even  laymen  have  the  right  to  baptize;  for  what  is  equally  received 
can  be  equally  given.  Unless  bishops  or  priests  or  deacons  be  on  the  spot, 
other  disciples  are  called — i.  c,  to  the  work."     (Tertullian  on  Baptism,  c.  17.) 

"In  many  places  we  find  it  the  practice  [for  the  bishop  to  baptize]  more 
by  way  of  honoring  the  episcopate  than  by  any  compulsory  Jaw.  ...  If 
necessity  so  be,  we  know  that  even  laymen  may,  and  frequently  do,  bap- 
tize."    (Jerome,  "Against  the  Luciferians,"  c.  9.) 

"Let  that  be  deemed  a  proper  eucharist  which  is  [administered]  either  by 
the  bishop  or  by  one  to  whom  he  has  intrusted  it."  (Ignatius  to  the  Smyr- 
naeans,  c.  8.)  The  tone  of  this,  together  with  other  passages  in  the  letters 
of  Ignatius,  indicates  that  the  presidency  of  a  church  officer  at  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  not  the  law  or  universal  custom. 

^"Now  appoint  for  yourselves  bishops  and  deacons  worthy  of  the  Lord." 
(Didache,  c.   15.) 

"Those  therefore  who  were  appointed  by  them  [the  Apostles]  or  by 
other  men  of  repute,  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  church,  .  .  .  these 
irffen  we  consider  to  have  been  unjustly  thrust  out  of  their  ministrations. 
For  it  will  be  no  light  sin  for  us,  if  we  thrust  out  those  who  have  offered 
the  gifts  of  the  bishop's  office  unblamably."  (Clement,  "Epis.  to  Corin- 
thians," c.  44.     Cf.  Polycarp  to  Philippians,  c.  11.) 

*"Who,  then,  among  you  is  noble-minded?  who  compassionate?  who  full 
of  love?  Let  him  declare:  'If  on  my  account  sedition  and  disagreement  and 
schisms  have  arisen,  I  will  depart,  I  will  go  away  whithersoever  ye  desire, 
and  I  will  do  what  the  majority  command ;  only  let  the  flock  of  Christ  live 


13-  Christian  if  y  as  Organized 

of  these  things  were  done  by  them,  as  the  references  just  given 
show,  through  successive  generations  or  even  centuries/ 

2.  Perversion  of  the  Ministry  into  a  Hierarchy. 

But  in  the  swift  course  of  the  years  a  radical  and  far-reaching 
change  was  wrought.  The  ministry  of  gifts  gradually  declining, 
the  ministry  of  government  meanwhile  elevated  itself  more  and 
more  above  the  people.  Not  only,  indeed,  did  it  rise  above  them : 
it  finally  separated  itself  from  them  by  a  sharply  defined  caste 
distinction. 

What  were  the  causes  of  this  fateful  separation  between  offi- 
cial and  non-official  members  of  the  Christian  brotherhood  ? 

( 1 )  One  cause  was  the  increasing  tendency  to  lean  upon  con- 
stituted authority.  The  churches,  growing  larger  in  membership, 
were  at  the  same  time  becoming  poorer  apparently  in  spiritual 
gifts.  Meanwhile  the  need  of  a  strong  government  for  the  main- 
tenance of  unity  in  the  midst  of  heresies  and  schisms  was  more 
keenly  felt.  Therefore  let  the  chosen  leaders,  on  whom  rested 
the  chief  responsibility,  speak  the  word  of  counsel  or  judgment 
or  command,  and  let  the  people  hearken  and  obey.  Such  was 
the  measure  of  self -protection  and  orderly  procedure  that  came 
to  be  adopted. 

As  early,  indeed,  as  the  close  of  the  first  century  we  find 
Clement  of  Rome  drawing  an  analogy  between  the  relation  of 
priest  to  people  under  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  the  relation  of 
officers  to  people  in  the  Christian  Church.^  And  only  a  few 
years  later  Ignatius  of  Antioch  urges  absolute  submission  to  the 
bishop,  or  pastor,  as  to  Christ  himself.' 

(2)  This  undue  officializing  movement  was  accelerated  by  the 
form  in  which  the  Lord's  Supper  came  to  he  celebrated.     It  is 

OR  terms  of  peace  with  the  presbyters  set  over  it.'"  (Clement  to  Corin- 
thians, c.  54.) 

*Here  the  claim  and  custom  of  modem  congregationalists  are  almost  en- 
tirely scriptural  and  primitive.  (Cf.  Heermance,  "Democracy  in  the  Church," 
pp.  141,  142.) 

'To  the  Corinthians,  c.  40.        ^Rphesians,  6;  Trallians,  2;  ATagnesians,  3. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  133 

true  that  Jesus'  memorial  feast  should  have  had  just  the  oppo- 
site effect ;  and  so  it  might,  had  the  manner  of  its  observance 
remained  the  same  as  in  the  beginning.  For  at  that  time  all 
the  communicants  sat  together  and  partook  of  the  sacramental 
meal  at  a  common  table.  But  when  the  bishop,  with  his  council 
of  elders,  had  been  appointed  in  each  congregation,  and  when, 
also,  the  number  of  communicants  had  become  too  large  to  admit 
of  their  sitting  at  the  table  together,  the  bishop  sat  there  as  presi- 
dent, and  on  either  side  of  him  the  elders,  while  the  people  came 
to  the  table,  a  few  at  a  time — the  deacons  waiting  upon  them — ■ 
and  received  the  bread  and  wine  standing/ 

There  were  the  bishop  and  the  elders  seated,  like  the  ruler  and 
the  elders  in  the  synagogue;"  or,  as  the  Church  of  that  age  con- 
ceived it,  like  the  Lord  and  his  Apostles  at  the  Last  Supper. 
Here  were  the  people  standing  apart,  or  merely  approaching  their 
office-bearers  to  receive  the  holy  symbols  at  their  hands.  It  was 
an  object-lesson  of  official  separateness  rather  than  of  congre- 
gational unity  and  fraternity.  Taking  part  in  it,  Sunday  after 
Sunday,  would  exert  its  proper  (yet  most  improper)  influence 
upon  the  participant's  mind.  It  would  familiarize  him  with  the 
idea  of  occupying  the  lower  place.'' 

(3)  Another  cause  was  financial.  The  officers  were  supported, 
at  least  in  part,  by  the  people.  Not  as  a  matter  of  professional 
fees  or  of  hirelings'  wages,  but  of  brotherly  cooperation  and 
practical  necessity,  they  were  made  recipients  of  contributions  of 
money  or  provisions.  "Tend  the  flock  of  God,"  says  the  Apostle 
Peter  to  presbyters,  .  .  .  "nor  yet  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of 
a  ready  mind"* — an  injunction  which  implies  that  the  presbyters 

'Const.  Apos.,  VIIL,  ii.,  12,  13.  *Neh.  viii.  4;  Matt,  xxiii.  6. 

""It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  separation  which  was  here  involved 
between  the  congregation  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  bishop,  presbyters,  and 
deacons  on  the  other,  was  a  potent  factor  in  developing  the  idea  of  the 
clcriis  as  a  separate  class  in  the  community.  It  must  at  once  have  accen- 
tuated the  notion  of  rank."  (Lowrie,  "The  Church  and  Its  Organization," 
p.  287.) 

*i  Pet.  V.  2.  Cf.  I  Cor.  ix.  14;  Gal.  vi.  6;  i  Tim.  v.  17,  18  (in  which 
passage  unless  the  meaning  of  the  word  honor  {Tififj)    be  "price,"  or  "hon- 


134  Christianity  as  Organised 

received  pay  from  the  congregation,  and  shows  at  the  same  time 
that  their  services  must  not  he  rendered  on  that  account.  The 
Didache  also  teaches  that  "the  true  prophet"  should  not  be  a 
money-seeker,  but  that  when  settled  in  a  church  he  is  morally  en- 
titled, as  is  "the  true  teacher"  likewise,  to  a  support.' 

The  prevalent  custom  in  tlie  post-apostolic  churches  seems  to 
have  been  to  maintain  a  common  fund  out  of  which  the  ministr}' 
and  the  poor  alike  received  allowances.  The  ministry  received 
theirs,  however,  only  in  case  of  actual  need ;  and  hence  not  as 
salary  or  wages,  but  rather  as  a  contribution  to  the  needy.'^  The 
ministerial  office  did  not  require  its  incumbents  to  give  up  their 
ordinary  occupation — as  mechanics,  tradesmen,  or  farmers,  for 
example' — and  so,  it  may  be  supposed,  did  not,  for  the  most  part, 
seriously  interfere  with  self-support.  When  it  did  thus  inter- 
fere, however,  or  when  for  any  cause  the  rulers  and  leaders  of 
the  Church  were  in  need  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  these  were 

orarium,"  the  logical  connection  of  the  two  verses  does  not  appear)  ;  2  Tim. 
ii.  4-7. 

In  this  last  passage,  after  reminding  Timothy,  the  temporary  chief  pastor 
in  Ephesus,  that  "the  husbandman  that  laboreth  must  be  the  first  to  partake 
of  the  fruits,'"  the  apostle  adds  the  significant  injunction  and  assurance: 
"Consider  what  I  say;  for  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  understanding  in  all 
things."  Does  Paul  mean  that  spiritual  discernment  is  necessary  to  dis- 
criminate between  ordinary  work  with  its  wages  and  the  due  response  of  a 
Christian  congregation  to  the  spiritual  service  of  its  ministers? 

^Didache,  13.  It  will  be  noted  that  nothing  is  said  here  concerning  the 
support  of  bishops  and  deacons — perhaps  because  they  were  not  held  in  such 
high  esteem,  perhaps  because,  unlike  the  prophets  and  teachers,  they  were 
able  to  support  themselves.     (Cf.  Eusebius,  H.  E.  VI.,  xliii.,  11.) 

*The  first  recorded  instance  of  a  church  teacher  or  officer  receiving  a 
stipulated  salary  is  that  of  Natalius,  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, was  paid  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  denarii  (about  twenty-five 
dollars)  a  month ;  and  this  was  while  serving  as  bishop  in  a  heretical  sect. 
(See  Eusebius,  H.  E.,  V..  xxviii.,  10.) 

'"Even  the  learned  clergy  shall  gain  their  living  by  a  trade.  (Can.  51.) 
The  clergy  shall  gain  their  food  and  clothing  by  a  trade  or  by  agriculture, 
without  prejudice  to  their  office."  (Can.  52.)  So  decreed  the  (supposed) 
Fourth  Council  of  Carthage  (398). 

There  were  later  councils,  however,  that  forbade  the  clergy  to  follow 
secular  nursuits. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  135 

distributed  to  them.'  It  might  be  added  that  doubtless  both  the 
character  and  the  position  of  such  men  would  give  special  weight 
to  their  claim  as  compared  with  that  of  other  needy  church  mem- 
bers.' 

But  even  though  there  were  the  ''ready  mind"  in  shepherding 
the  flock,  and  even  though  the  pay  were  small  and  irregular,  and 
even  though  it  were  gi\en  only  in  necessitous  cases,  yet  the  bare 
fact  of  pecuniary  maintenance  would  have  some  effect  to  set  the 
ministry  apart  as  a  distinct  class  in  the  Church. 

True,  such  a  fact  need  not  of  itself  proxe  to  be  a  potent  sep- 
arative influence.  But  when,  under  the  laws  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  church  officers  received  an  allowance  from  the  state, 
and  through  this,  together  with  other  causes,  became  financially 
inde))endent  and  even  wealthy,  their  wealth  did  tend,  as  wealth 
will  always  tend,  to  create  a  class  distinction. 

(4)  Then,  too,  in  the  official  acceptance  of  Christianity  as  the 
religion  of  the  Empire,  there  lurked  another  and  a  more  effectual 
cause  of  this  official  class  distinction.  For  this  great  act  of  the 
Emperor  was  followed  by  the  bestowal  of  various  honors  and 
privileges  upon  tJie  clergy.  Before  the  lapse  of  many  years  they 
were  exempted  from  what  was  then  the  "almost  intolerable  bur- 
den" of  holding  civil  offices,  from  the  payment  of  certain  taxes, 
and  in  the  case  of  petty  crimes  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil 

'It  was  on  this  ground  that  the  founder  of  Methodism  based  the  claim  of 
ministerial  support :  "For  I  look  upon  all  this  revenue  [contributed  by  the 
members  of  the  United  Society],  be  it  what  it  may,  as  sacred  to  God  and 
the  poor ;  out  of  which,  if  I  want  anything,  I  am  relieved,  even  as  another 
poor  man.  So  were  originally  all  ecclesiastical  revenues,  as  every  man  of 
learning  knows,  and  the  bishops  and  priests  used  them  only  as  such.  If  any 
use  them  otherwise  now,  God  help  them."  (Tyerman,  "Life  of  Wesley,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.  551- 

"An  illustration  may  be  found  in  a  passage  of  the  Apost.  Const,  con- 
cerning the  distribution  of  food  at  church  feasts.  The  instructions  are  that 
the  pastor  shall  have  the  first-fruits ;  then,  "as  much  as  is  given  to  every 
one  of  the  elder  women,  let  double  so  much  be  given  to  the  deacon  in 
honor  of  Christ,"  a  double  portion  also  to  presbyters  as  to  those  who  "labor 
continually  about  the  w^ord  and  doctrine."  "and  if  there  be  a  reader,  let  him 
receive  a  single  portion,  in  honor  of  the  prophets."     (Bk.  TT.,  28.) 


136  Christianity  as  Organized 

courts.  As  to  the  bishops,  they  became  civil  magistrates,  and 
were  so  highly  esteemed  for  their  office'  sake  that  the  emperor 
himself  did  not  disdain  to  kiss  their  hand;'  as  indeed  is  done  in 
the  case  of  priests  by  the  king  of  Ronmania  and  even  by  the  Czar 
of  Russia  in  the  present  day. 

(5)  Still  another  cause  was  the  extraordinary  growth  of 
monasticism  (say,  from  the  fourth  century  onward  for  800 
years).  The  operation  of  this  cause  may  easily  be  traced.  Let 
it  be  borne  in  mind  that  originally  there  were  no  two  standards 
of  personal  piety  in  the  Church,  one  for  the  ministry  and  the 
other  for  the  people.  It  is  indeed  a  lofty  standard  which  the 
New  Testament  sets  before  the  presbyter  and  the  deacon,  but  not 
one  hair's-breadth  higher  than  that  which  it  sets  before  all  Chris- 
tians.^ To  be  a  Christian  was  to  be  in  principle  and  spirit  a  saint. 
Whether  officer  or  private  member  of  the  congregation,  it  was 
all  the  same.  "A  minister,"  it  has  been  said  even  in  our  own  en- 
lightened day,  "ought  to  be  different  from  others — eat  differently, 
drink  differently,  talk  and  act  differently."  Different  how  and 
zvhyF  A  Christian,  whether  with  or  without  a  specific  office  in 
the  Church,  must  strive  and  must  help  his  brethren  to  strive  after 
the  realization  of  a  perfect  manhood  in  Jesus  Christ — this  was 
the  teaching  under  which  the  apostolic  churches  were  gathered 
and  governed.  Experience,  spirit,  morals,  manners  were  the 
same  for  all. 

But  afterwards,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  study  of  Individual- 
ism, when  the  Empire  itself  was  coming,  unregenerate,  into  the 
Church,  and  to  be  a  Christian  meant  practically  hardly  more  than 
to  have  been  baptized,  it  came  to  pass  that  anxious  or  earnest 
souls  tended,  through  reaction  from  the  prevailing  worldliness 
and  formality,  toward  ascetic  observances  and  a  life  of  seclusion. 
Nor  was  it  an  unpopular  movement.  On  the  contrary,  the  monk 
was  lauded  as  the  typical  Christian.     Formerly  the  Church  itself 

'Smith  and  Cheatham's  Dictionary,  Art.  "Immunities  of  the  Clergy." 
^i  Tim.  iii.  1-13. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  137 

was  regarded  as  opening  the  door  to  the  higher  life;  now.  the 
monastery. 

But  it  was  felt  to  be  an  unseemly  thing  that  the  Christian  min- 
ister should  live  a  less  stringent  life  than  the  monk,  who,  as  such. 
was  only  a  layman.  Hence  it  came  to  be  expected  of  the  min- 
istry that  they  should  follow  a  higher  rule  of  conduct  than  the 
laity.  They,  like  the  monks,  must  practice  asceticism.  They 
must  deny  themselves  amusements  that  were  innocent  enough  in 
others.  Celibacy  was  declared  to  be  their  only  proper  state  of 
life.^  Thus,  representing  the  idea  of  the  more  perfect  religious 
character,  as  it  was  conceived  in  that  age,  ministers  were  elevated 
in  popular  estimation  still  higher  above  the  people's  level. ^ 

(6)  But  all  these  influences  combined  must  pale  into  insig- 
nificance before  the  great  determining  cause  that  enthroned  the 
minister  of  Christ  in  awful  isolation  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
brethren.  That  cause  was  the  prevalence  of  sacerdotalism.  As 
early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  the  sacerdotal  con- 
ception appears  in  Christian  literature ;  and  some  years  later  it 
was  more  distinctly  enunciated,  together  with  its  twin  idea,  the 
apostolic  succession,^  by  Cyprian  of  Carthage.  The  presbyterate 
was  transformed  into  a  priesthood.  The  priest  and  he  only  could 
impart  sacramental  grace  and  exercise  dominion  in  the  Church 
of  God. 

''More  than  one  provincial  council  in  the  fifth  century  legislated  in  its 
favor ;  but  it  was  never  universally  enforced  as  a  requirement.  At  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nice  a  number  of  bishops  were  inclined  to  declare  clerical  celibacy  to 
be  the  law  of  the  Church.  But  through  the  dissuasion  of  an  exemplary  and 
influential  bishop,  Paphnutius,  they  consented  to  desist  from  enacting  such  a 
canon.  See  Ecclesiastical  Histories  of  Socrates  (T.,  ii)  and  Sozomen  (T., 
23).  Nor  did  any  other  of  the  Seven  Councils  that  were  accounted  ecu- 
menical pass  a  law  on  the  subject. 

^"They  had  a  separate  civil  status,  they  had  separate  emoluments,  the} 
were  subject  to  special  rules  of  life.  The  shepherd  bishop  driving  his  cattle 
to  their  rude  pasturage  among  the  Cj'prian  hills,  the  merchant  bishop  of 
North  Africa,  the  physician  presbyter  of  Rome  were  vanished'  types  whose 
living  examples  could  be  found  no  more."  (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early 
Christian  Churches,"  p.  163.) 

'For  the  intimate  relationship  of  sacerdotalism  and  apostolic  succession, 
see  Gore.  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  pp.  70.  71. 


iT,8  Christianity  as  Orgam::ed 

3.  Differentiation  of  the  Terms  "Clergy"  and  "Laity/^ 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  notice  here  the  differentiation  of  the 
terms  clergy  and  laity  in  ecclesiastical  usage.  Originally  the 
name  clergy  (o  KXrjpo<i)  meant  something — for  example,  a  peb- 
ble, or  a  bit  of  wood — that  was  used  in  casting  lots.'  Then, 
through  association  of  ideas,  it  came  to  mean  that  which  is  ob- 
tained by  casting  lots,  and  through  a  further  association  of  ideas, 
that  which  is  obtained  in  some  other  way ;  as,  for  example,  by 
inheritance/  Then,  again,  the  term  was  applied  to  people,  when 
they  were  thought  of  metaphorically  as  the  inheritance  of  the 
one  who  had  the  care  of  them.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the 
apostle  Peter  exhorts  the  presbyters  not  to  rule  arrogantly  over 
the  "clergy :"  "Tend  the  flock  of  God.  .  .  .  neither  as  lord- 
ing it  over  tJie  charge  allotted  (twv  KX-qpwv)  you."^  And  now 
we  need  particularly  to  note  that  it  is  in  this  same  sense  that 
the  term  is  applied  to  all  God's  people  when  they  are  called  meta- 
phorically his  own  inheritance,*  as  in  the  words  of  Paul  to  the 
Kphesians,  describing  Christians  generally  as  a  "clergy,"  or  herit- 
age, in  Christ,  "in  whom  also  we  were  made  a  heritage  (eKXrjpwOrf 
/xcv  )."*  For  the  evident  meaning  here  is  that  Christians  are  God's 
own  inheritance.  In  like  manner  we  find  Ignatius  of  Antioch 
speaking  of  the  Lord's  people  as  a  "clergy,"  Christ's  inheritance, 
among  whom  he  would  fain  be  numbered :  "That  I  may  be  found 
in  the  lot  (k^w*?)  of  the  Christians  of  Ephesus."^  Ere  long, 
however,  the  term  came  to  be  applied  distinctively  to  the  minis- 
try, probably  as  those  who  are  the  chief  or  representative  people 
of  God  J 

Then,  as  these  clergy  became  priests,  the  name  gathered  unto 
itself  the  sacerdotal  meaning,  which  is  totally  different  from  its 
original  sense. 


^Matt.  xxvii.  35.  ^Acts  i.  17;  viii.  21  ;  xxvi.  18.  'i  Pet.  v.  3. 

*It  is  an  idea  of  the  Old  as  well  as  of  the  New  Covenant.     (Deut.  iv.  20; 
ix.  29;  Joel  iii.  2.) 

''Ephesians  i.   II.  *To  the  Ephesians,  11. 

"Thayer.  Greek-English  Lexicon,  s.  1'. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  139 

On  the  other  hand,  as  the  laity  (or  people,  o  Aaos)  lost  their 
former  position  in  the  Church  and  were  brought  into  such  dis- 
paraging contrast  with  the  clergy,  their  name  meant  less  than 
before.  They  were  no  longer  people  so  much  as  minors,  chil- 
dren. They  were  sheep  in  a  perverted  sense  of  the  beautiful 
Scripture  metaphor.  "Sheep,"  said  lago  Lainez,  general  of 
the  Jesuits,  addressing  the  Council  of  Trent,  "are  animals  desti- 
tute of  reason,  and  in  consequence  they  can  haye  no  part  in  the 
government  of  the  Church." 

Thus  clergy  and  laity  became  purely  ecclesiastic  terms,  devoid 
of  all  evangelic  meaning. 

During  this  whole  time  (say,  200-1200,  a  thousand  years) 
the  people  were  being  gradually  dispossessed  of  their  priv- 
ileges and  rights.  Or,  to  say  the  same  thing  from  a  different 
point  of  view,  they  were  gradually  prevented  from  doing  their 
proper  duty  and  service  as  members  of  the  Christian  brother- 
hood. They  were  forbidden  to  preach  or  to  teach  in  the  ])resence 
of  a  bishop,  or  in  the  presence  of  the  clergy  except  at  a  bishop's 
command,  and  later  forbidden  to  preach  or  teach  at  all.'  They 
were  not  permitted  to  approach  the  altar  in  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  in  the  Eastern  Church  not  permitted  even  to 
witness  the  consecration  of  the  elements.  The  administration  of 
discipline  also  was  wholly  removed  out  of  their  hands.' 

But  how  about  their  part  in  electing  church  officers?     Even 

^"It  does  not  befit  a  layman  to  dispute  or  teach  publicly,  thus  claiming  for 
himself  authority  to  teach ;  but  he  should  yield  to  the  order  appointed  by  the 
Lord,  and  open  his  ears  to  those  who  have  the  grace  to  teach."  (Council  in 
Trullo   (692),  Canon  64.) 

""That  cases  of  discipline  were  judged  by  the  whole  community,  assem- 
bled under  the  presidency  of  its  officers,  so  late  as  the  time  of  Cyprian,  is 
clear  from  the  letter  of  the  Roman  Church  to  him  (St.  Cyprian  Epist.  30, 
31).  .  .  .  This  is  in  harmony  with  the  general  analogy  of  the  Christian 
communities  to  the  contemporary  secular  communities,  in  which  all  matters 
of  importance  were  decided  'cowi'entu  plena.'  ...  In  course  of  time  the 
church  officers  came  to  act  alone  in  matters  of  discipline,  and,  still  later, 
their  power  so  to  act  was  regarded  as  an  inalienable  attribute  of  the  priest- 
hood." (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  p.  120,  foot- 
note.) 


T40  Christianity  as  Organised 

Leo  the  Great,  conscientious  and  thoroughgoing  autocrat  as  he 
was,  declared  that  "he  who  is  to  preside  over  all  should  be 
elected  by  all."  But  this  permission  too  was  withdrawn,'  though 
in  some  cases  as  late  as  the  eleventh  century  laymen  continued 
to  cast  their  votes  in  the  election  of  bishops/  We  find  them  vot- 
ing at  times,  it  is  true,  in  a  most  irregular  and  even  violent  man- 
ner. For  instance,  when  Ambrose,  the  Roman  governor  at  Milan 
and  only  an  unbaptized  layman  in  the  Church,  while  trying  to 
quell  a  tumult  which  had  arisen  in  the  congregation  over  the 
choice  of  a  bishop,  was  himself  chosen  bishop  by  a  loud  im- 
promptu acclamation;  or  when  Augustine,  while  quietly  sitting 
as  a  visitor  in  the  church  at  Hippo,  in  the  midst  of  a  sermon  by 
Valerius  the  pastor,  was  eagerly  called  upon  by  the  congregation, 
then  and  there,  to  become  assistant  pastor,  and  in  the  face  of  his 
protestations  and  tears  was  constrained  to  accept  the  office.  Now 
such  demonstrations,  however  well  they  may  have  resulted  in 
these  and  some  other  historic  instances,  were  not  favorable  to  the 
idea  of  popular  elections.  They  afforded  the  officiary  something 
of  a  reason,  and  apparently  much  more  of  a  pretext,  for  taking 
the  suffrage  out  of  the  people's  hands.  But  these  vehement  pop- 
ular demonstrations  can  only  be  regarded  as  rare  exceptions. 
Usually  the  people  seem  to  have  voted  regularly,  together  with 
the  clergy,  and  probably  with  a  wisdom  not  unworthy  of  co- 
operation with  theirs. 

But  this  right  was  afterwards  universally  denied  them.  The 
priesthood  had  become  the  active  Church;  the  laity,  passive  re- 
cipients. 


'There  was  opposition  to  it  before  Leo's  day:  "The  election  of  those  who 
are  to  be  appointed  to  the  priesthood  is  not  to  be  committed  to  the  muUi- 
tude."     (Council  of  Laodicea  (347-38i),  Canon  XIII.) 

*"The  election  of  bishops  by  the  people  continued  to  be  the  practice  cill 
the  time  of  Cyprian,  Ambrose,  and  Augustine,  who  were  all  so  elected." 
(Schaff,  "Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  p.  73  n.) 

Indeed  the  people  of  Rome  took  part  with  the  clergy  in  the  election  of 
the  pope  until  the  year  1059,  when,  under  a  decree  of  Nicholas  II.,  this  right 
of  suffrage  was  restricted  to  the  cardinals,  with  whom  it  has  ever  since 
rested. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  141 

This  idea  of  organized  Christianity  as  a  clergy-church  has  been 
completed  and  perpetuated  in  world-wide  enterprise  by  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Would  a  father,  asks  the  Roman  theologian, 
in  framing  or  executing  laws  for  the  management  of  his  house- 
hold, take  the  vote  of  his  little  children?  His  divinely  given  re- 
sponsil)llity  and  his  superior  wisdom  would  render  such  a  course 
preposterous.  There  is  power  and  charm  in  infantine  voices,  but 
not  if  they  undertake  to  speak  in  tones  of  counsel  or  authority. 
Similarly  the  Roman  hierarchs,  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome  at  their 
head,  claim  to  be  divinely  charged  with  the  guidance  and  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  while  time  endures,  and  to  be  qualified  for 
their  office  by  a  spiritual  illumination  to  which  the  laity  can  lay 
no  claim.  To  adjnit  others,  therefore,  whatever  their  intellectual 
capacities,  to  any  share  in  such  functions  would  be  gross  unfaith- 
fulness and  unwisdom.  "Note,  venerable  brethren,"  says  the 
present  Pope,  in  his  Encyclical  Pascendi,  of  September  8,  1907, 
concerning  Modernism,  "the  appearance  already  of  that  most 
pernicious  doctrine  which  would  make  the  laity  a  factor  of  prog- 
ress in  the  Church." 

Let  us  not  lay  the  whole  blame,  however,  upon  the  leaders. 
The  people  themselves  had  much  to  do,  at  least  indirectly,  with 
the  fixing  of  their  own  position.  Did  they  not  probably  have 
more  to  do  with,  it  than  did  the  leaders  themselves?  Doubtless 
they  were  but  too  willing,  in  the  majority  of  instances,  to  receive 
their  religion  at  second-hand — and  are  so  now.  It  was  through 
a  lack  of  personality;  and  it  showed  the  absence  of  a  thoroughly 
inwrought  Christian  faith,  which  would  have  created  the  true 
personal  manhood.  Some  one  has  finely  remarked  that  "when 
Diogenes  said  that  he  had  never  seen  a  man,  he  uncovered  the 
whole  opportunity  of  secular  barbarism,  social  exclusiveness,  po- 
litical injustice,  and  religious  quackery." 

4.  Illustrative  Example  in  the  History  of  Ordination. 

This  radical  change  in  the  way  of  regarding  the  ministry  in 
its  relation  to  the  people  is  well  illustrated  in  the  history  of  the 
rite  of  ordination.     As  in  the  first  century,  so  in  the  second,  this 


14^  Christianity  as  Organised 

rite  was  simply  the  induction  into  office— usually,  though  not,  it 
seems,  invariably,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands' — of  a  man  who  was 
already  supposed  to  have  received  the  necessar)-  spiritual  gift/ 
He  might  be  elected  by  the  people.  He  might  be  chosen  for  the 
congregation  by  one  or  more  apostolic  men.  He  might  be  called 
by  the  concurrent  voice  of  the  people  and  their  apostolic  leaders. 
But,  in  any  case,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  doubt  that  the  human  ap- 
pointment was  made  in  the  faith  of  a  previous  appointment  at 
the  hand  of  the  Lord.  As  in  the  ancient  time  "the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Take  thee  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  a  man  in  whom 
is  the  spirit,  and  lay  thine  hand  upon  him,'"  so  in  the  apostolic 
age  the  ordination  was  given  because  of  "the  spirit"  in  the  or- 
dinand,  and  not  that  he  might  receive  the  Spirit  through  the 
ordination.  "Having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that 
zvas  given  to  us,  whether  prophecy,  ...  or  ministry,  .  .  . 
he  that  ruleth  (o  Trpoio-Ta/xtvos)  with  diligence."* 

Similarly  in  later  times  the  congregation  was  bidden  to  pray, 
after  having  elected  their  bisliop,  or  pastor :  "O  God,  strengthen 
him  zvhoni  Thou  hast  prepared  for  t/^-."" 

But  as  the  sacerdotal  and  prelatic  idea  gathered  strength,  de- 
fining itself  meanwhile  more  distinctly  from  the  third  century 
onward,  it  developed  the  sensuous  fancy  that  spiritual  fitness  for 
office  was  given  in  the  act  of  ordination  itself.  The  Holy  Spirit 
was  communicated  to  the  applicant  for  the  priesthood  through 


^Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp.  133,  134.  To  take 
a  modem  instance,  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference  ordained  elders,  for 
more  than  a  generation  (1793- 1836),  by  simple  election  without  laying  on 
of  hands. 

"Acts  vi.  1-6;  Titus  i.  5-9.  As  to  the  case  of  Timothy,  2  Tim.  i.  6,  7,  see 
p.  284  ff. 

*Num.  xxvii.  18. 

'Rom.  xii.  6-8. 

Does  it  need  to  be  added  that  the  word  "ordain,"  as  used  in  the  Author- 
ized Version  of  the  New  Testament  {e.  g.,  in  Mark  iii.  14;  John  xv.  16; 
Acts  xiv.  23),  is  the  translation  of  Greek  words  (  nouu,  TidT//xi,  x^iporovfu) 
which  mean  simply  to  make,  to  constitute,  to  appoint,  implying  nothing  as  to 
the  imposition  of  hands? 

Tr!ir.;is  of  Alexandria   (wrongly  ascribed  to  Hippolytus),  IT. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  143 

the  laying  on  of  a  bishop's  hands.  So  "holy  orders"  became  a 
sacrament,  superstitioiisly  believed  to  convey  a  spiritual  power 
of  which  the  unordained  are  wholly  destitute/ 

5.  Some  Change  of  Organic  Form  Demanded. 

Now  it  is  a  long  way,  more  than  a  thousand  years,  that  we 
have  traveled  from  the  time  of  the  Master  and  his  first  disciples. 
But  the  distance  in  time  is  not  greater  than  the  change  of  form 
in  organization  and  ordinances  that  has  taken  place  in  his  re- 
ligion. 

Some  change  of  form,  indeed,  was  not  only  inevitable  but 
highly  desirable.  It  would  be  demanded  by  a  religion  that  should 
remain  forever  the  same  in  its  principles  and  spirit — demanded 
by  that  very  inward  steadfastness.  A  man  whose  immutable 
principle  of  conduct  is  to  do  good  to  others  will  learn  to  "be- 
come all  things  to  all'men."  He  may  be  old  this  morning  and 
young  this  evening,  an  Englishman  to-day  and  a  German  to- 
morrow. So  with  any  institution  or  body  of  men,  A  living 
church,  therefore,  holding  fast  its  essential  truth  through  all  in- 
tellectual moods  or  historic  discoveries,  ever  bearing  witness  of 
the  Eternal,  will  be  sensitive  in  method  and  administration  to  the 
conditions  of  the  time.  For  the  conditions  of  the  time  are  the 
Church's  providential  opportunity. 

But  is  this  the  case  before  us?    By  no  fair  construction  of  the 

^"If  any  one  says  that  by  sacred  ordination  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  given, 
and  that  vainly  therefore  do  the  bishops  say,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost, 
or  that  a  character  is  not  imprinted  by  the  ordination,  or  that  he  who 
has  once  been  a  priest  can  again  become  a  layman,  let  him  be  anathema." 
(Council  of  Trent,  on  Sacrament  of  Order,  Canon  IV.) 

The  word  "ordination,"  "ordain,"  "orders"  is  not  of  Scripture  origin.  An 
ordo  was  a  rank  or  class  of  Roman  citizens.  The  term  was  applied,  for 
example,  to  a  council  to  which  the  administration  of  a  city  or  a  colony  was 
committed.  To  "ordain"  (ordinare)  was  to  appoint  to  a  civil  office.  The 
early  Latin  fathers  used  the  word  as  a  part  of  their  ecclesiastic  vocabulary, 
and,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  in  a  sense  corresponding  to  its  political 
meaning — that,  namely,  of  simple  appointment  to  office.  To  ascribe  to  it  in 
their  writings  the  sacramental  idea  of  the  impartation  of  special  grace  would 
be  an  anachronism. 


144  Christianity  as  Organized 

facts  or  interpretation  of  apostolic  teaching  and  example  can  it 
be  so  regarded.  It  is  not  a  mere  success  ,n  of  adaptations  that 
here  appears,  as  of  a  plant  which,  changing  with  a  changing  en- 
vironment, while  the  law  of  its  life  remains  absolutely  the  same, 
is  able  to  adapt  itself  to  a  new  habitat.  Nor  is  it  a  simple 
genuine  growth,  such  as  the  lapse  of  time  may  be  expected  to 
record  in  any  resourceful  society,  whose  later  stages  must  of 
necessity  present  a  very  different  appearance  from  its  beginnings 
— a  case  of  root  and  blossom,  of  promise  and  fulfillment.* 
Neither  is  it  a  mere  hardening  of  aspiration  and  divine  com- 
munion into  ecclesiasticism — the  formation  of  a  gritty  shell  for 
the  protection  of  the  kernel  of  truth  within.  None  of  these. 
Not  a  series  of  adaptations,  but  compromise  and  deterioration ; 
not  growth,  but  excrescence;  not  self -protection  from  threaten- 
ing evils  without,  but  shriveling  and  decay  within.  Instead  of 
cooperative  brotherhood,  a  hierarchy ;  instead  of  the  law  of  lib- 
erty, either  paternal  or  egoistic  despotism. 

Yet  we  are  told  that  all  this,  or  at  least  a  great  part  of  it, 
may  be  regarded  as  not  only  inevitable  but  reasonable  and  right. 
"Try  as  you  may" — there  are  those  who  thus  speak — "you  will 
never  get  the  oak  back  into  the  acorn.  Neither  coaxing  nor 
shrewd  management  nor  violence  will  be  of  any  avail.  Nature 
forbids.  And  so  also  is  the  Church — the  Church  of  our  own 
time  as  compared  with  the  more  primitive  organization  of  its 
earliest  years."  Shall,  we  not  listen  s}Tnpathetically  to  such  an 
argument?  It  is  indeed  a  true  parable,  and  all  that  seems  to 
be  needed  is  the  true  interpretation  thereof.  Suppose,  then,  that 
the  tree  which  started  from  the  acorn  should  prove  to  be  but 
a  scrub  oak  or  a  bulky  but  diseased  and  disfigured  oak,  or  for 
some  reason  unworthy  to  be  called  an  oak  at  all.  "An  enemy 
hath  done  this." 

The  departing  Son  of  God  gave  assurance  to  the  congregation 

^"For  what  every  being  is  in  its  perfect  state,  that  certaini)'  is  the  nature 
of  that  being.  .  .  .  Its  own  final  cause  and  its  end  must  be  the  perfection 
of  anything."     (Aristotle,  "Politics,"  Bk.  I.,  c.  2  ) 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  i45 

of  his  disciples  that  they  might  have  the  perpetual  leadership  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  "That  He  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the 
Spirit  of  trutii."  And  now  if  it  be  asked  how  the  well-nigh  uni- 
versal Christian  congregation  could  have  gone  so  far  astray  in 
anti-Christian  forms  and  ideas,  the  one  sufficient  negative  answer 
must  be:  By  not  knowing  the  leadership  of  that  "Holy  Spirit  of 
promise."  For  as  it  was  through  Pentecost  that  the  Churcli  of 
Christ  was  called  into  actual  existence,  so  it  is  only  through  tlie 
perpetual  illumination  of  the  Spirit  that  its  purity  can  be  pre- 
served and  its  heritage  of  power  realized. 

The  first  Christian  communities  li\ed  and  walked  in  the  Spirit. 
As  flawless  men  and  women?  Alas,  no;  and  yet  predominantly  as 
genuine  Christian  disciples.  But  when  the  doors  of  the  house  of 
God  were  thrown  wide  open,  and  all  men  were  brought  by  bap- 
tism into  its  membership,  and  kept  there  as  partakers  of  its  sac- 
raments and  subjects  of  its  authority  to  the  end  of  life,  it  came 
to  be  composed  chiefly  of  those  who  did  not  live  under  the  tuition 
of  the  Spirit.  Therefore,  they  did  not  want  to  think  and  act  for 
themselves  as  God's  coworkers  in  tlie  furtlicrance  of  his  king- 
dom. They  did  not  choose  to  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God 
and  "fight  the  good  fight  of  faith."  They  were  ready  to  engage 
substitutes — as  if  in  tliis  war  there  could  be  a  substitute. 

In  the  civil  community  such  a  spirit  is  known  as  a  relaxation 
of  that  eternal  vigilance  which  is  the  price  of  liberty ;  in  the 
Church  it  made  an  opportunity,  eagerly  embraced  by  ambition 
or  a  bedwarfing  paternalism,  for  the  priest,  the  prelate,  and  the 
pope.  "The  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests  bear  rule 
by  their  means;  and  my  people  love  to  have  it  so.'"^ 

Let  it  be  remembered  also  that  to  follow  Christ  is  a  very  high 
ideal.  It  is  easy  enough  to  be  religious — the  formalist  or  rit- 
ualist in  any  age  has  set  himself  no  excessively  strenuous  task. 
But  to  be  a  Christian  is  to  Vne  by  faith,  in  the  spirit  of  love,  and 
in  communion  with  the  Father  in  heaven.     It  is  to  deny  the  mas- 

^ Jeremiah  v.  30,   ,^i. 
10 


146  Christianity  as  Organised 

tership  of  self.  It  is  to  have  the  spiritual  mind.  And  what  more 
could  life  at  its  highest  demand? 

An  American  savage,  brought  into  touch  with  civilization,  de- 
clared:  "It  costs  too  much  to  be  a  white  man."  Here  was  a 
typical  instance.  The  savage  did  not  want  to  li\e  like  a  dog. 
He  would  be  a  man.  He  must  have  a  wigwam,  a  fire,  some 
cooking  utensils,  some  rude  clothing,  some  weapons,  a  patch  of 
maize.  But  as  to  the  civilized  life,  that  seemed  far  too  high  for 
his  endeavors.  It  was  a  weariness.  Its  realization  cost  too  much 
in  labor  of  hand  and  brain.  He  would  be  let  alone,  therefore,  in 
dull  satisfaction  with  his  low  estate.  Similarly  men  in  all  social 
and  political  conditions  would  be  religious.  They  would  not  live 
wholly  for  the  visible  and  the  sensuous.  They  would  pay  some 
homage  to  the  supreme  Being.  They  would  practice  certain 
rites  of  worship,  and  indulge  the  hope,  each  according  to  his 
kind,  of  a  happy  immortality.  But  when  the  religion  of  the 
Spirit  is  set  before  them,  its  cost  seems  singularly  heavy  and  its 
attainment  too  lofty  an  ideal.  Why  keep  striving  after  the  tran- 
scendent and  divine?  Thus  the  temptation  is  very  powerful  to 
drop  down  from  even  the  contemplation  of  a  truly  Christian  life 
to  the  plane  of  mere  religious  observances. 

Behold  the  opportunity  of  the  prophet,  if  he  should  appear,  to 
stir  the  inmost  deeps  of  the  spirit  and  bring  tiie  man  into  con- 
scious contact  with  the  living  God.  But  here  is  also  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  priest,  who  is  very  likely  to  appear,  standing  between 
God  and  the  people  and  delivering  to  them  such  an  external  and 
second-hand  religion  as  may  satisfy  the  unspiritual  mind. 

In  what  may  be  called  the  historic  churches  the  prelatic  and 
sacerdotal  conception  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  still  either  dom- 
inant or  strongly  influential.  And  in  the  East  little  or  nothing 
has  been  added  to  it  since  the  fourth  century.  Not  so,  however, 
in  the  West.  For  here  prelacy  has  reached  its  culmination  in 
papacy,  and  the  claim  of  the  priesthood  in  authoritative  abso- 
lution and  the  unequivocally  defined  mock  miracle  of  transub- 
stantiation. 


Loss  and  Recovery  of  Idea  147 

In  Protestantism,  which  under  its  infelicitous  negative  name 
represents  the  truer  Catholicism,  the  original  idea  has  been  re- 
covered. The  Christian  congregation  is  recognized  as  possess- 
ing within  itself,  through  the  grace  and  headship  of  Christ,  all 
spiritual  and  ecclesiastic  powers.  It  is  the  Church  of  God — in 
that  local  congregation.  It  may  preach  and  teach,  administer 
sacraments,  adopt  rules  and  regulations  for  its  own  government, 
elect  and  dismiss  members.  When  it  does  these  things  through 
its  officers,  it  is  as  a  matter  of  order  and  not  of  inherent  dif- 
ference in  spiritual  or  ecclesiastic  power  between  the  officer  and 
the  people.  The  gift  and  calling  of  the  minister  of  the  gospel  is 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  the  badge  of  his  office  is  not  lordship, 
but  service.  The  universal  priesthood  of  believers  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  leaves  no  standing  ground  for  offering  salvation 
through  penance  and  the  mechanical  operation  of  sacraments. 
The  priest,  therefore,  is  worse  than  unneeded  and  unknown — as 
in  the  New  Testament. 


III. 

SERVICE:  THE  DEACON— HIS  EARLIER  OFFICE. 

There  are  some  closely  related  fundamental  truths  which  it 
may  not  be  amiss,  before  going  further,  to  repeat,  even  at  the 
risk  of  irksome  iteration,  as  plainly  as  possible. 

1.  A  church,  in  the  New  Testament  sense,  is  a  Christian  con- 
gregation, whether  organized  or  not.  True,  in  all  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances it  will  express  itself  ere  long  in  some  kind  of  or- 
ganization, as  a  matter  of  well-being.  Duty  and  love  will  united- 
ly constrain  it  to  do  so.  But  it  may  exist  as  a  church,  in  the 
form  of  a  simple  congregation,  before  ever  it  possesses  an  officer 
or  a  polity  of  any  kind. 

2.  Any  church,  however  small,  has  the  divine  right  to  do,  ac- 
cording to  the  wisdom  given  it,  what  any  other  church,  or  any 
particular  number  of  associated  churches,  or  the  churches  of 
the  whole  world  collectively,  have  the  right  to  do.  That  is  to 
say,  it  may  expound  the  Scriptures,  preach  the  gospel,  administer 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  ordain  officers,  admit  and  expel 
members,  undertake  Christian  enterprises,  as  it  may  deem  most 
conducive  to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

If,  for  example,  a  few  pagans  in  some  far-off  isle  of  the  sea 
should  somehow  find  a  book  or  hear  a  sermon  by  an  itinerant 
evangelist  which  proved  to  be  the  means  of  their  conversion  and 
their  instruction  in  Christian  doctrine,  they  might  gather  them- 
selves together  and  do  all  these  things  without  violating  any  law 
of  Christ.  They  not  only  might  but  ought  to  do  such  things. 
To  deny  them  this  power — till,  let  us  say,  they  were  brought  into 
some  sort  of  tactual  or  other  connection  with  a  historic  body  of 
Christians — would  be  unscriptural  and  unjust. 

(3)  Any  local  church  may,  if  it  will,  decide  to  do  any  or  all  of 
these  things  through  a  self -perpetuating  body — such  as  a  Quar- 
terly Conference — or  through  the  cooperation  and  approval  of 
some  outside  ecclesiastical  authority — such  as  a  Presbyterv  01 
(148) 


Seri'ice:  Deacon — Early  Office  149 

General  Conxention  or  Synod  or  Bishop.  For  this  acting  through 
representatives  is  also  a  part  of  the  liberty  with  which  Christ 
has  made  his  people  free;  and  to  forbid  the  use  of  this  liberty 
would  be  to  impose  a  gratuitous  yoke  of  bondage.  i 

(4)  The  officers  of  a  church  do  not  differ,  as  to  the  possession 
of  spiritual  powers,  from  the  people.  No  form  of  ordination 
makes  any  difference  in  this  respect.  When,  for  example,  or- 
dained ministers  teach  or  preach  or  administer  sacraments  or 
preside  in  a  business  meeting  or  pronounce  a  benediction,  we 
have  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  spiritual  influence  attends  their 
ministrations  that  might  not  attend  the  like  ministrations  at  the 
hands  of  unordained  ministers — as  in  the  apostolic  churches. 

(5)  When  a  church's  organization  is  spoken  of,  it  is  not  simply 
what  are  commonly  known  as  ministerial  offices — such  as  that 
of  teaching  elders  or  of  bishops — or  the  offices  of  lay  deacons 
and  elders,  that  are  meant.  But  all  lay  organization  is  included 
— the  offices  of  a  Sunday  school,  of  a  missionary  society,  of  a 
young  people's  society,  of  trustees,  of  a  visiting  committee,  of  a 
sexton,  or  whatever  others  there  may  be.  Let  no  church  member 
imagine,  in  a  spirit  of  self -depreciation,  that  because  he  is  not 
some  other  he  is  not  a  part  of  the  organization.  "If  the  foot  shall 
say.  'Because  I  am  not  the  hand,  I  am  not  of  the  body,'  is  it  not 
therefore  of  the  body?" 

So,  then,  a  complete  treatise  on  organized  Christianity  would 
take  account  of  all  these  forms  of  official  service — those  of  min- 
isters and  people  alike.  For  ministers  and  people,  all  together, 
constitute  a  church ;  all  alike  have  their  ministries  to  fulfill ;  all 
alike  are,  or  ought  to  be,  organized — after  the  analogy  of  an 
army  or  an  industrial  undertaking — for  Christian  service.  On 
the  part  of  the  minister  habitual  activity,  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
ple habitual  passivity,  is  a  sacerdotal  and  not  a  New  Testament 
idea  or  practice. 

Tf  now  it  should  be  asked  why  in  the  present  volume  lay  or- 
ganization is  only  touched  incidentally — such  topics  as  Sunday 
Schools,  Missionar}^  Societies,  and  the  like  receiving  no  specific 


150  Christianity  as  Organij^cd 

discussion — tlie  answer  would  be  that  the  oftlces  selected  for 
treatment  seem  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  ideas  of  church  organi- 
zation, and  lack  of  space  forbids  further  enlargement/ 

Or  if  it  should  be  asked  why,  under  the  broad  title  of  "Chris- 
tianity as  Organized,"  only  the  organization  of  churches  should 
be  treated,  and  not  that  of  such  societies  auxiliary  to  the  Church, 
as  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  or  the  Salvation 
Army,  a  similar  answer  might  be  given. 

I.  The  Most  Characteristic  Office  of  Early  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  most  characteristic  office  in  the  early  Church  was  the  diac- 
onate.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  find,  both  in  civil  govern- 
ments and  in  voluntary  societies,  offices  corresponding  to  that  of 
presbyter  and  that  of  bishop  in  Christian  congregations.  But  it 
would  not  have  been  equally  easy  to  find  an  office  corresponding 
to  that  of  deacon.  Accordingly  it  may  be  noted  that,  while  the 
names  presbyter  and  bishop  were  titles  already  in  use  as  tech- 
nical terms,  either  among  Jews  or  Greeks,  the  name  deacon  was 
not  a  title  already  thus  in  use.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  a  com- 
mon term,  which  was  taken  up  by  the  Church  and  used  tech- 
nically. 

The  explanation  is  not  far  to  seek.  Christianity  is  embodied  in 
fellow-workers.  The  Church  is  for  service.  It  is  her  mission  in 
the  world  to  do  good  of  the  highest  kind  and  in  the  largest 
measure.  Of  no  other  institution  can  this  be  asserted  with  the 
same  breadth  and  depth  of  meaning.  Standing  alone  as  the  in- 
stitutional representative  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth, 
quite  out  of  comparison  with  all  other  beneficent  societies,  is  the 
Congregation  of  Jesus  the  Christ.  Therefore,  as  we  have  seen, 
among  the  formative  official  ideas  of  the  Church  is  that  of  serv- 
ice.    But  in  this  one  particular  office  the  idea  so  predominates 

'Those  topics  are  treated  in  "The  Idea  of  the  Church,"  an  introductory- 
volume  to  the  present  treatise,  under  such  titles  as  "The  Fellowship  of  Work" 
and  "The  Constitutional  Forward  Movement." 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  151 

that  it  has  given  the  name  to  the  office  itself — both  creating  and 
naming  the  diaconate. 

W'lience  came  the  spirit  and  ideal  of  service  in  the  Christian 
community,  no  one  can  fail  to  discover.  At  the  very  beginning 
it  was  made  supremely  real  in  the  person  of  the  ministering 
Saviour.  Was  it  not  one  of  his  own  vivid  and  unequivocal 
words,  "I  am  in  the  midst  of  you  as  he  that  serveth  (6  SiaKo'vwv)  ?" 
The  Master  was  a  minister,  the  Lord  of  the  soul  the  servant  of 
all.  So  far,  then,  as  Christians  became  Christly,  theirs  too  must 
be  a  lifelong  ministry  of  loving  service.  This  was  shown  in  the 
ministry  of  the  word.  Like  their  Lord,  they  offered  to  men  that 
bread  of  truth  by  which  alone  the  soul  can  live.  It  was  a  "min- 
istration (SiaKovta)  of  righteousness,"  "of  the  Spirit,"  "of  a 
new  covenant."  But  this  was  not  all;  Jesus's  ministry  was  also 
to  the  body.  He  was  healer  to  the  diseased,  bread-giver  to  the 
hungry.  See  the  Ruler  with  the  heart  of  a  servant,  on  the 
evening  before  he  shall  lay  down  his  life  on  the  cross,  uttering 
that  discourse  which  is  "one  long  unfolding  of  the  inner  nature 
of  the  Church,"  and  now,  fully  conscious  that  he  came  from  God 
and  is  going  to  God,  bending,  towel-girded,  over  the  feet  of  men 
who  are  capable  of  forsaking  or  denying  him.  It  was  both  a  real 
and  a  symbolic  service.  It  was  the  royal  law  personalized  in  its 
matchless  example,  the  King  of  men.^ 

Nor  did  Jesus's  ministry  to  physical  needs,  with  its  always  ac- 
companying ministration  of  wisdom  and  truth,  cease  with  the 
Resurrection.  It  was  the  Risen  One  who  asked  on  the  lake  shore 
in  Galilee,  "Children,  have  ye  aught  to  eat?"  and  had  a  fire  of 
coals  there  and  the  morning  meal  ready  for  his  hungry  and  won- 
der-stricken disciples;  and  it  was  he  himself,  the  M^n  of  Galilee 
now  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power  by  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  that  "cometh  and  taketh  bread,  and  giveth 
them,  and  the  fish  likewise.''  LUterly  shattered  lay  the  dream  of 
a  warrior  Christ.  Jesus  was  Christ,  and  the  weapons  of  his  war- 
fare were  spiritual  truth,  sympathy,  self-sacrifice,  service. 

^John  xiii.  14,  15.  "John  xxi.  9-13. 


152  Christianity  as  Organised 

2.  Beneficence  in  the  Apostolic  Age. 

Jesus'  like-minded  disciples,  therefore,  would  find  it  in  their 
hearts  to  attend  upon  the  bodily  wants  of  their  fellows ;  "the  min- 
istry of  tables"  would  take  its  place,  a  subordinate  but  indis- 
pensable place,  in  connection  with  "the  ministry  of  the  word." 
Under  the  very  glories  of  Pentecost  we  find  the  disciples  making 
provision  for  the  poor,  disposing  of  possessions  and  goods  and 
distributing  the  proceeds  to  all,  "according  as  any  man  had 
need."^  The  first  sin  that  mars  the  fair  record  of  Christian  life 
in  the  city  where  Jesus,  betrayed  by  the  avaricious  treasurer  of 
his  own  little  company  of  Apostles,  had  given  himself  up  to 
crucifixion,  was  untruthfulness  about  a  certain  contribution  of 
money/  The  first  church  officers  elected  were  a  board  of  finance.'' 
The  first  mention  of  presbyters  in  the  New  Testament  history  is 
in  connection  with  their  receiving  from  Antioch  contributions  to 
be  distributed  among  the  destitute  Christians  in  Judaea — an  in- 
teresting and  suggestive  coincidence,  if  nothing  more/ 

All  this  was  in  Jerusalem,  And  indeed  the  need  of  beneficence 
there  was  very  great.  Because  for  one  thing  such  was  the  at- 
tractiveness of  the  Holy  City  to  the  Jews  dispersed  throughout 
the  world  that  they  kept  returning  to  it  and  making  it  their 
home,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  beyond  its  power  to 
yield  a  support.  The  surrounding  country  was  infertile,  and  the 
resources  of  the  city  itself  by  no  means  affluent.  Hence  "the  poor 
saints  in  Jerusalem"  of  whom  we  read  in  the  New  Testament. 
It  afforded  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  a  peculiar  joy  to  gather 
contributions  in  Europe,  and  convey  them  by  his  own  hand  to 
his  needy  fellow-Israelites  in  the  city  of  their  fathers." 

But  Jerusalem  was  not  the  only  city  where  the  conditions  of 
life  tended  strongly  toward  increase  of  poverty.  Equally  ad- 
verse conditions  obtained  far  and  wide  in  the  Roman  Empire. 
Not  as  a  fretful  and  threadbare  complaint,  but  in  sheer  reality, 

'Acts  ii.  45.  '    "Acts  V.   i-ii.  'Acts  vi.   1-6. 

'Acts  xi.  27-30.  ^Acts  xxiv.  17;   i  Cor.  xvi.  1-4;  2  Cor.  ix. 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  153 

it  might  have  been  said  that  the  times  were  hard.  In  many  in- 
stances the  government,  both  imperial  and  municipal,  had  to 
make  provision  for  the  helpless  and  suffering  poor.  In  the  city 
of  Rome  a  regular  and  long-continued  distribution  of  bread  be- 
came necessary.  Private  beneficence  also  was  loudly  called  for, 
and  it  did  not  always  disregard  the  call.  Charitable  associations 
were  formed ;  charitable  bequests  were  made.' 

Here,  too,  there  was  a  cause  of  poverty  due  to  the  profession 
of  Christianity  itself — namely,  the  giving  up  of  what  were  now 
condemned  as  sinful  means  of  gaining  a  livelihood.  Such,  for 
example,  were  employments  connected  with  the  worship  of  idols. 
These  and  all  immoral  occupations  the  followers  of  Christ  must 
forego. 

Accordingly  as  Christian  churches  were  organized  here  and 
there,  chiefly  among  the  poor,  one  of  the  very  first  demands 
upon  them  was  to  feed  the  hungry.  Hospitality  became  a  con- 
spicuous virtue.^ 

The  table  of  the  Lord  was  the  table  of  a  common  meal,  a 
love  feast,  at  which  the  necessities  of  those  who  had  little  or 
nothing  were  to  be  supplied.'  Nor  did  the  practice  of  systematic 
beneficence  in  Christ's  name  pass  away  with  the  purer  and  more 
primitive  years  of  Christianity.     "It  is  a  scandal,"  said  the  Em- 

*"The  world  never  needed  charity  and  compassion  as  it  did  in  the  cen- 
turies just  following  Christ.  .  .  .  Knavish  taxgatherers,  peculating  offi- 
cials, and  local  'rings'  plundered  the  money  which  was  wrung  from  the  half- 
starved  farmers.  .  .  .  Vast  masses  of  proletaires  were  gathered  in  the 
cities,  especially  in  the  imperial  capital ;  and  poverty,  orphanage,  abandon- 
ment of  children,  with  widespread  pauperism,  prevailed  as  they  have  scarcely 
ever  been  known  in  the  history  of  the  world."  (Brace,  Gesta  Christi,  pp. 
96,  97.     Cf.  Hatch,  "Organization  of  the  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp.  32, 

33.) 

*Rom.  xii.  13;  xvi.  23;  i  Tim.  iii.  2;  Titus  i.  8;  i  Pet.  iv.  9. 

The  earliest  of  the  Fathers,  Clement  of  Rome,  couples  faith  and  hos- 
pitality, and  again  faith  and  godliness,  as  conditions  of  the  Divine  favor: 
"On  account  of  his  I  Abraham's!  faith  and  hospitality,  a  son  was  given  him 
in  his  old  age.  ...  On  account  of  his  hospitality  and  godliness,  Lot  was 
saved  out  of  Sodom."     ("To  the  Corinthians,"  10,  11.) 

*i  Cor.  xi.  20-22. 


154  Christianity  as  Organised 

peror  Julian,  "that  the  GaHleans  should  support  the  destitute, 
not  only  of  their  religion,  but  of  ours." 

As  to  the  care  of  widowhood,  it  was  undertaken  as  a  distinct 
concern  of  the  Church.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  gave  rise 
to  that  first  board  of  finance,  the  Seven  in  Jerusalem.  Later 
there  was  instituted  in  the  city  of  Ephesus  a  roll  of  widows 
which  likewise  illustrated  the  kindness,  and  the  common  sense 
also,  of  early  Christianity.  To  be  entered  upon  this  roll  was  to 
be  entitled  to  the  systematic  almsgiving  of  the  church.  But  the 
beneficiaries  must  be  "widows  indeed  ;"  which  is  to  say,  depend- 
ently  poor,  at  least  sixty  years  of  age,  and  without  children, 
grandchildren,  or  other  near  relatives  under  natural  obligation 
to  provide  for  their  support  and  able  to  do  so.  They  must  also 
have  had  but  one  husband  ( evos  dvSpos  ywi^) .  Nor  was  this  all. 
These  Christian  widows  were  to  be  Christians  indeed.  Their 
previous  life  must  have  shown  them  to  have  been  hospitable  in 
their  homes  to  visiting  Christians  and  strangers,  and  well  re- 
ported of  as  diligent  in  all  good  works.^ 

Now  it  is  not  to  be  supposed,  we  may  be  sure,  that  only  such 
as  these  would  be  kindly  ministered  to  by  the  church.  But  no 
others  were  to  be  admitted  into  this  special  class  of  beneficiaries.* 
The  door  of  entrance  into  it  must  be  opened  and  shut,  not 
thrown  down.  For  corporate  charity,  unguarded  from  abuse, 
may  easily  become  promotive  of  individual  idleness  or  stingi- 
ness— a  perversion  against  which  church  funds,  like  any  other, 

^i  Tim.  V.  3-16. 

""It  brings  before  our  eyes  not  merely  that  far-off  primitive  Christian 
church  of  Ephesus,  but  also  the  preseijt  work  of  a  Scottish  country  kirk- 
session.  When  the  bread-winner  dies  careful  inquiries  are  to  be  made, 
whether  the  bereaved  widow  and  orphans  have  any  means  of  support,  or 
can  receive  any  aid  from  their  relations,  who  are  to  be  stirred  up  to  do  their 
duty  to  those  who  are  left  helpless.  If  the  children  or  grandchildren  are 
able  to  work,  they  are  commanded  to  support  her  who  has  been  left  a 
widow ;  but  if  such  help  fails,  and  if  the  widow  is  too  old  to  earn  her  own 
living  and  has  always  borne  a  good  character,  then  she  is  placed  on  the  poor 
roll  of  the  congregation  and  supported  by  the  community."  (Lindsay, 
"Church  and  Ministry,"  p.  148.) 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  155 

need  protection.  Nor  is  there  conflict,  but,  contrariwise,  many 
points  of  friendly  contact,  between  love  and  Avisdom,  kindness 
and  criticism,  Christianity  and  common  sense.  The  wise  and 
great-hearted  Apostle  who  bade  one  Christian  congregation  see 
that  they  abounded  in  the  grace  of  liberal  ministration  toward 
their  needy  brethren'  reminded  another:  "For  even  when  we 
were  with  you,  this  we  commanded  you,  If  any  will  not  work, 
neither  let  him  eat.'" 

3.  The  Church  Not  Distinctively  for  the  Relief  of  Poor. 

Furthermore  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Church  was 
then,  or  is  e\er  to  be,  distinctively  a  society  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor.  Many  unsympathetic  observers  in  the  present  day  would 
seem  to  regard  it  as  such ;  for  the  bitter  charges  of  uselessness 
which  they  make  against  the  Church  are  based  almost  wholly 
upon  its  alleged  lack  of  sympathy  with  the  wage-earner.  But 
such  a  conception  is  so  far  below  the  truth  as  to  be  a  serious 
misconception.  They  would  make  Christianity,  in  its  organic 
form,  what  the  people  would  at  one  time  have  made  the  Christ 
— a  bread-king.*  But  Christ  would  be  followed  as  Saviour  and 
Lord,  not  as  dispenser  of  loaves.  His  Church,  likewise,  is  the 
society  for  saving  men,  whatever  their  outward  circumstances, 
and  lifting  them  up  into  that  eternal  life  which  he  came  to  give. 
It  is  to  awaken  and  satisfy  the  sense  of  their  spiritual  needs.  It 
is  to  win  them  unto  the  worship  of  God  and  the  habitual  doing 
of  his  will.  The  changed  heart,  with  the  consequent  changed 
life,  is  its  work  in  the  world.  Would  any  one  say  that  ministra- 
tion to  the  physical  wants  of  the  poor  was  the  supreme  or  dis- 
tinctive object  of  the  life  of  Jesus?    Neither  is  it  the  supreme  or 

*2  Cor.  viii.  7. 

"2  Thess.  iii.  10. 

Cf.  the  earliest  Christian  manual :  "If  he  [the  stranger]  will  take  up  his 
abode  with  you  and  is  an  artisan,  let  him  work  and  so  eat;  but  if  he  has  no 
trade,  provide  employment  for  him,  that  no  idler  live  with  you  as  a  Chris- 
tian. But  if  he  will  not  act  according  to  this,  he  is  a  Christ-trafficker.  Be- 
ware of  such."     (Didache,  c.  12.) 

*Johii  vi.   13-15. 


i5'^>  Christianity  as  Organized 

distinctive  object  of  the  Church,  which  is  liis  body,  wherewith 
he  would  continue  his  ministry  to  men. 

Outside  critics  inquire  freely  as  to  the  use  of  the  Church,  the 
particular  ages  of  the  world  to  which  it  seems  ada])ted,  and  its 
promise  of  perpetuity.  Very  well ;  let  us  ask  the  same  questions 
of  all  other  great  and  enduring  institutions — of  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  civil  government  and  the  school.  These  institu- 
tions rest,  each  and  all,  upon  some  imperative  human  need.  Men 
are  so  made  as  to  require  protection  for  their  persons  and  prop- 
erty, and  concerted  action  for  the  promotion  of  various  material 
interests.  Hence  the  fact  of  civil  government.  They  are  so  made 
as  to  require  knowledge  and  instruction.  Hence  the  fact  of  the 
school.  But  just  as  truly  are  they  so  made  as  to  require  moral 
and  religious  guidance,  teaching,  reconstruction.  Under  every 
sky  men  are  sinners  needing  release  from  their  sins,  they  are 
spirits  needing  spiritual  development.  Hence  the  fact  of  the 
Church. 

Looking  at  the  Church,  then,  from  the  purely  human  point  of 
view,  we  find  it  resting  on  a  universal  need  of  humanity.  Here, 
indeed,  is  not  a  bodily,  nor  a  civil,  nor  an  intellectual,  but  a  spir- 
itual need — more  deeply  human  than  any  other.  And  it  is  this 
truth  that  must  give  direction  to  all  inquiries  as  to  the  Church's 
fidelity  or  unfaithfulness,  its  success  or  failure.  Were  it  a  ques- 
tion of  an  almshouse  or  a  hospital,  the  demand  for  the  insti- 
tution would  be  measured  by  the  necessities  of  our  flesli  and 
blood.  But  when  the  question  is  that  of  organized  Christianity, 
another  standard  of  measurement  is  called  for. 

Suppose  the  brightest  dream  of  socialism  realized.  Poverty 
is  annihilated.  The  overdriven  and  underpaid  laborer  is  no 
more  to  be  seen.  The  best  medical  and  surgical  skill  is  freely 
at  the  service  of  everybody.  Music,  art,  literature  open  their 
doors  wide  to  whoever  may  choose  to  enter.  Neither  wars  nor 
rumors  of  wars  are  any  longer  heard — the  once  honored  military 
school  is  remembered  with  a  blush  of  shame.  Men  have  learned 
at  last  to  form  a  universal  brotherhood,  and  by  substituting  col- 
lective for  individual  economic  endeavor,  to  provide  abundant 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  157 

wealth,  together  with  abundant  rest  and  leisure,  for  all.  T!ie 
development  of  the  hitherto  untouched  riches  of  field  and  mine, 
earth  and  air,  sunlight,  ocean,  electricity,  ether,  and  their  appli- 
cation to  the  supply  of  human  needs  goes  on  to  its  far-away 
brilliant  conclusion.  Science  and  industrial  art  have  wrought 
their  last  beneficent  miracle.  Farewell  to  drudgery.  The 
world's  physical  work  is  done  not  by  muscle,  whether  human  or 
sub-human,  but  by  the  forces  of  nature,  with  man  as  director — 
immeasurable  cosmic  force  under  the  guidance  of  intelligent 
will. 

What  then?  Would  men  be  satisfied?  would  their  sins  de- 
part with  their  poverty?  would  they  care  for  no  other  life  and 
no  other  good  ?  On  the  contrary,  as  strongly  as  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  the  world  the  spirit  would  cry  out  for  the  living 
God.  As  deeply  and  as  universally  as  ever  the  Church's  mes- 
sage of  eternal  life  in  Christ,  and  all  her  means  of  spiritual  cul- 
ture, would  be  needed.  For  "it  is  written"  where  no  man's 
hand,  one's  own  or  another,  can  erase  it:  "Man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone." 

We  should  only  fall  into  exaggeration,  therefore,  to  assert, 
with  a  noble  Christian  teacher  of  the  present  day,  that  "it  might 
almost  be  said  that  the  Christian  Church  was  organized  for  the 
care  of  the  poor.'"  Nevertheless  care  for  the  poor,  or,  to  speak 
somewhat  more  broadly,  friendly  ministration  to  the  afflicted, 
is  a  most  conspicuous  feature  of  the  work  of  Christ's  Church  in 
our  sorrow-stricken  world.  And  wherever  this  feature  does  not 
appear,  there  an  indispensable  evidence  of  the  Christianity  of  the 
heart  is  lacking. 

4.  The  Rise  of  the  Deacon  to  Have  Been  Expected. 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise,  then,  that  a  class  of  officers 
should  arise  in  the  churches  everywhere,  charged  with  the  duty 
of  beneficent  financial  administration — that  the  Christian  diac- 


'Gladden,  "The  Christian  Pastor."  p.  448. 


158  Christ iaiiity  as  Organised 

onate  should  appear.  It  would  rather  have  been  matter  of 
surprise  if  such  officers  had  not  arisen. 

The  word  deacon  in  its  Greek  form  (8iaKoj/os)  is  freely  used  in 
the  sense  of  servant  or  attendant,  both  in  classic  literature  and 
in  the  New  Testament/  In  the  New  Testament  it  is  given  to 
household  servants,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  narrative  of  the 
wedding  in  Cana — "But  the  servants  {Bkxkovol)  tliat  had  drawn 
the  water  knew  f'"  to  Christian  ministers  in  general,  as  in  Paul's 
expostulation  with  the  scliismatic  Corinthians — "What  llien  is 
Apollos  ?  and  what  is  Paul  ?  Ministers  (SiaKovot)  through  whom 
ye  believed ;'"*  and  even  to  civil  rulers — "For  he  is  a  minister 
(SittKovos)  of  God  to  thee  for  good.'"  So,  not  only  Timothy, 
Paul,  Apollos,  Tychicus,  and  Epaphras,  but  Roman  magistrates 
also  are  called  deacons. 

Our  Lord  himself,  coming  into  the  world  as  he  did,  "not  to 
be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister  (Sta/cov^o-ai)/'  is  called  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  a  Sia/covos  to  confirm  the  truth  of  God  to  Israel  and 
to  show  forth  his  mercy  to  the  other  peoples,^ 

This,  therefore,  was  the  common  term  which,  through  a  proc- 
ess of  specialization  such  as  one  may  see  going  on  at  any  time 
in  any  language,  was  fixed  instinctively  upon  a  certain  class,  or 
order,  of  church  officers.  So  they  were  called,  not  in  a  general 
sense  but  technically,  deacons." 

Wliat,  then,  were  the  deacon's  official  duties?  To  such  a 
question  the  New  Testament,  strange  as  it  might  seem,  offers  no 

^It  also  occurs  a  few  times,  and  in  the  same  sense,  in  the  Septuaghit ;  as, 
for  example,  in  Esther  ii.  2 :  "Then  said  the  king's  servants  that  ministered 
(ot  6iaKovoi)   unto  him."     (See  also  ch.  i.   10  and  ch.  vi.  3.) 

'John  ii.  9. 

"The  primary  meaning  of  ^laKovog^  as  it  meets  us  in  Greek  literature 
generally,  is  a  servant  or  slave  in  the  household,  whose  chief  duty  consists 
in  waiting  on  his  master  at  table,  and  sometimes  in  marketing  for  him." 
(Hort,  "The  Christian  Ecclesia,"  p.  202.)  Ii  is  one  of  the  words  that  the 
gospel  has  glorified. 

'i  Cor.  iii.  5. 

*Rom.  xiii.  4.     See  also  I  Thess.  iii.  2 ;  Eph.  vi.  21 ;  Col.  i.  7. 

'•Rom.  XV.  8.  "Phil.  i.  t  :  t  Tim.  iii.  8. 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  159 

direct  answer.  Certain  qualifications  for  the  office  are,  indeed, 
enumerated  in  a  pastoral  epistle :  Deacons  must  be  grave,  sin- 
cere in  speech,  temperate,  not  avaricious,  firm  in  conscientious 
conviction  of  Christian  truth,  pure  and  blameless  in  life,  "ruling 
their  children  and  their  own  houses  well.'"  But  these  qualifica- 
tions, it  will  be  noticed,  are  not  official  but  purely  personal. 
They  show  what  a  man  who  is  a  deacon  must  be,  not  at  all  what 
a  deacon  must  do.  They  are  also  spiritual,  not  intellectual. 
There  is  none  of  them  but  is  wholly  applicable  to  the  private 
Christian;  there  is  none  that  offers  the  slightest  positive  hint  as 
to  tlie  functions  of  the  diaconate.  They  offer  only  this  negative 
suggestion :  In  the  description  of  the  good  deacon,  as  here  given, 
no  mention  is  made  of  eitlier  teaching  or  oversight,  whereas  in 
the  corresponding  description  of  the  good  presbyter,  or  bishop,* 
these  two  duties  are  mentioned.  Thus  it  is  at  least  fairly  sug- 
gested that  the  deacon's  office  was  not  one  either  of  teaching  or 
of  oversight. 

But  it  may  be  that  some  light  is  thrown  upon  the  subject  by 
that  election  of  church  officers  narrated  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
the  Acts.  Let  us  then  recall  the  familiar  story.  Not  long  after 
the  Day  of  Pentecost — perhaps  a  few  months  only — complaints 
began  to  be  heard  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem  of  a  lack  of  con- 
sideration for  the  widows  of  Greek-speaking  Jews  as  compared 
with  those  of  Palestinian  Jews,  in  "the  daily  ministration" — the 
distriiHition  of  money  or  food,  or  perhaps  of  both.  The  dissat- 
isfaction was  probably  without  just  cause;  for  the  distribution 
had  ]>een  made  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  and  we  cannot  be- 
lieve it  likely  that  they  were  actuated  by  even  an  unconscious 
spirit  of  favoritism.  But,  however  this  may  have  been,  action 
was  taken,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Apostles,  to  quiet  the  com- 
plaints. Seven  men,  of  the  very  best  in  the  church — and  some- 
what probably,  as  their  Greek  names  suggest,  of  the  Greek- 
speaking  people — were  chosen  to  attend  to  this  matter  of  the 

'i  Tim.  iii.  8-12.  *i  Tim.  iii.  2-7;  i  Pet.  v.  2,  3. 


i(^o  Christianity  as  Organized 

distribution  of  the  common  fund/  Now  if  in  their  appoint- 
ment we  are  to  find  the  origin  of  tlie  Christian  diaconate,  it  is 
clear  that  originally  this  office  had  to  do  with  monetary  affairs. 
]t  was  a  service  of  "tables."  More  specifically  it  was  a  service 
of  the  table  of  the  poor — such  as  among  the  Wesleyans  of  to- 
day, for  illustration,  is  assigned  to  the  '"poor-steward." 

Indeed,  if  these  men  were  deacons  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  was  afterwards  technically  used,  then  the  diaconate  ante- 
dates the  presbyterate ;  and  we  have  here  an  account  of  the  in- 
stitution of  the  oldest  permanent  office  in  the  Christian  Church. 
But  is  it  so?  The  question,  though  affecting  no  vital  interest  of 
ecclesiastic  polity,  has  been  repeatedly  discussed.  And  the  fairly 
estimated  result  of  the  argument  pro  and  con  is,  that  the  historic 
continuity  of  the  office  or  the  Seven  with  that  of  the  later- 
mentioned  deacons  has  not  Deen  proved. 

In  favor  of  the  identity  of  the  two  offices,  it  has  been  held 
( I )  that  the  appointment  is  narrated  with  a  directness  and  a 
fullness  of  detail  that  suggest  the  creation  of  a  new  and  im- 
portant institution  of  the  Church;  (2)  that  the  office  is  called 
a  ministering  {haKovia,  ^-.  i)  ;  (3)  that  it  was  believed  in  post- 
apostolic  times  that  these  men  were  the  first  deacons — so  that, 
for  example,  in  the  city  of  Rome  and  in  some  other  cities  the 
number  of  deacons  was  limited  to  seven,  as  it  was  also  by  the 
Council  of  Neocassarea  (315)/  in  imitation  of  what  was  sup- 
posed to  be  apostolic  example;  (4)  that  the  duties  of  the  office 
were  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  post-apostolic  diaconate. 

In  reply  it  has  been  urged  ( i )  that  the  significance  of  this 
appointment  with  reference  to  the  common  treasury  of  the 
church  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time,  to  the  wnse  arrest  of  the  first 
threatening  schism,  to  the  relieving  of  the  Apostles  of  immediate 

^Acts  vi.  1-6. 

The  number  was  determined  probably  by  its  significance  as  the  symbol 
of  completeness.     (Cf.  Rev.  i.  4,  12,  16,  20;  iv.  5,  and  other  passages.) 

""The  deacons  ought  to  be  seven  in  number,  according  to  the  canon,  even 
if  the  city  be  great.  Of  this  you  will  be  persuaded  from  the  book  of  Acts." 
(Canon  XV.) 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  i6i 

financial  oversight  in  order  that  they  might  be  free  to  employ 
themsehes  exclusively  in  their  proper  work,  and  to  the  intro- 
duction of  Stephen  as  the  first  Christian  martyr  and  the  pre- 
cursor of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles — that  these  considerations 
are  sufficient  in  themselves  to  account  for  the  space  allotted  to 
this  appointment  in  the  New  Testament  narrative;  (2)  that  the 
appointees  are  nowhere  called  deacons,  but  are  referred  to  in 
the  twenty-first  chapter  of  the  Acts  as  simply  "the  Seven,"  and 
as  to  their  Jiiinisfcriiig  (Sia/covta),  the  word  is  evidently  used  in 
an  untechnical  sense,  just  as  the  same  word  is  used  in  this  very 
chapter  with  reference  to  the  Apostles  themselves  (v.  4)  ;  (3) 
that  post-apostolic  opinion  on  such  a  point  is  of  uncertain  value ; 
(4)  that  the  pressing  need  for  some  such  office  in  Jerusalem 
and  elsewhere  may  account  for  its  earlier  and  local,  as  well  as 
its  later  and  general,  appearance,  without  the  supposition  of  any 
historic  connection  between  the  two.^ 

But  may  not  the  appointment  of  the  Seven  be  regarded  as  at 
least  a  precedent  for  the  formal  institution  of  the  diaconate?' 
If  so,  it  is  still  unquestionable  that  this  later  and  universal 
office  was  from  the  first  a  ministry  of  money.  If  not,  we  might 
turn  toward  the  light  that  is  thrown  back  upon  the  New  Testa- 

^Chrysostom  regards  the  office  of  the  Seven  as  aUogether  local  and  tem- 
porary: "Whence  I  think  it  clearly  and  manifestly  follows  that  neither  dea- 
cons nor  presbyters  is  their  designation ;  but  it  was  for  this  particular  rea- 
son they  were  ordained."     (Homily  on  Acts,  in  loco.) 

Some  scholars  of  the  present  day — for  example,  Dr.  Lindsaj^  (in  "The 
Church  and  the  Ministry  in  the  Early  Centuries,"  p.  116) — are  inclined  to 
identify  the  Seven  with  the  presbyters  mentioned  in  Acts  xl.,  an  opinion 
which  Hort  ("The  Christian  Ecclesia,"  p.  62)  regards  as  "a  very  improb- 
able hypothesis." 

Cf.  Weiss,  "Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament"  (E.  T.),  Vol.  I., 
p.  189. 

^"There  is  of  course  no  evidence  for  historic  continuity  between  the  Seven 
and  either  the  Ephesian  SiaKovoi  or  the  developed  order  of  deacons  in  later 
times.  The  New  Testament  gives  not  the  slightest  intimation  of  such  a 
connection.  But  the  Seven  at  Jerusalem  would  of  course  be  well  known  to 
St.  Paul  and  to  many  others  outside  Palestine,  and  it  would  not  be  strange 
if  the  idea  propagated  itself."  (Hort,  "The  Christian  Ecclesia,"  p.  209.) 
I  I 


1 62  Christianity  as  Organized 

ment  diaconate  from  the  post-apostolic  age — which  we  will  do 
forthwith. 

5.  The  Diaconate  in  the  Post-Apostolic  Age, 

In  the  earliest  post-apostolic  literature — such  as  the  Epistle  of 
Clement  of  Rome,  the  Didache,  the  Pastor  of  Hermas,  the 
Epistles  of  Ignatius  and  that  of  Polycarp — the  deacon  is  men- 
tioned, and,  as  in  i  Timothy,  blamelessness  of  character  and  life 
is  recjuired  of  him ;  but  nothing  is  said  as  to  his  duties.  Appar- 
ently these  were  too  well  known  to  need  mention.  Probably  tlie 
nearest  approach  to  information  concerning  them  may  be  found 
in  the  Pastor  of  Hennas,  where  deacons  are  spoken  of  who 
"plundered  widows  and  orphans  of  their  liveliliood,  and  gained 
possessions  for  themselves  by  their  ministry.'"  Here  at  least  is 
an  intimation  that  their  office  had  to  do  with  money  contributed 
for  the  support  of  widows  and  orphans.  A  century  .later,  Cyp- 
rian of  Carthage  tells  of  Nicostratus,  an  unfaithful  deacon,  who 
had  "abstracted  the  Church's  money  by  a  sacrilegious  fraud, 
and  devoured  the  deposits  of  the  widows  and  orphans.""  Jerome 
also  speaks  of  the  deacon  somewhat  disparagingly — in  compari- 
son with  the  presbyter — as  a  "mere  server  of  tables  and  of 
widows.'""  In  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  therefore,  the 
deacon's  office,  it  is  plainly  implied,  had  to  do  with  the  Church's 
money.  And  unhappily  this  sacred  treasure  was  sometimes  in- 
trusted to  thievish  hands,  as  in  the  later  and  the  present  time. 

We  have  seen  that  the  qualifications  for  the  diaconate,  as  de- 
picted in  the  first  letter  to  Timothy,  are  moral  and  spiritual. 
They  are  also,  let  us  now  observe,  fully  as  great  as  those  re- 
quired for  the  higher  office  of  presbyter,  or  bishop* — indeed,  es- 
sentially the  same.^  So,  after  the  enumeration  of  the  presbyter- 
bishop's  qualifications,  the  Apostle  adds,  "Deacons  in  like  manner 
must  be  grave,""  and  so  on.  Even  more  noteworthy  is  the  de- 
scription of  the  men  who,  under  the  advice  of  the  Apostles,  were 

'Sim.  ix.  26.  'Epistle  XLVIII.  (LIL).  *In  his  Epistle  to  Evangelus. 

^i  Tim.  iii.  1-7.  'Titus  i.  5-8.  *i  Tim.  iii.  8-12. 


Scrzncc:  Deacon — Early  Office  163 

to  be  cliosen  for  the  niinistr}'  of  the  money  table  in  Jerusalem : 
*'Look  ye  out,  therefore,  brethren,  from  among  you  seven  men 
of  good  report,  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom,  whom  we  may 
appoint  over  this  business."*  And  the  first  mentioned  of  these 
appointees,  Stephen,  is  described  as  "a  man  full  of  faith  and  full 
of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Of  the  same  general  character  were  the  qualifications  for  the 
didconate  in  post-apostolic  times.  The  Didache  says :  "Appoint 
for  yourselves  bishops  and  deacons  worthy  of  the  Lord,  men 
meek  and  not  avaricious,  and  upright  and  proved"  (c.  xv.)  — 
no  difference  being  recognized  as  to  the  moral  qualities  needed 
in  the  two  offices.  Polycarp  says:  "In  like  manner  should  the 
deacons  be  blameless  before  the  face  of  His  righteousness,  as 
being  the  servants  of  God  and  Christ,  and  not  of  men.  They 
must  not  be  slanderers,  double-tongued,  or  lovers  of  money,  but 
temperate  in  all  things,  compassionate,  industrious,  walking  ac- 
cording to  the  truth  of  the  Lord,  who  was  the  servant  of  all."" 
So  generally  in  the  Christian  writings  of  those  times  the  diaco- 
nate  is  distinctly  recognized,  in  its  outward  activity,  as  a  lower 
office  than  the  presbyterate.  and  of  course  lower  than  the  single 
episcopate,  when  this  office  arose ;  but  as  to  the  required  spiritual 
character  of  the  incumbent,  equal  to  either  of  them.  Outwardly 
inferior,  it  was  inwardly  one  and  the  same. 

6.  Why  Such  High  Qualifications? 

Will  any  one  ask.  Why  such  high  spiritual  qualities  for  what 
seems  to  have  been  not  only  a  very  simple  but  even  a  semi- 
secular  business?  Because  in  Christianity — that  is  to  say,  ac- 
cording to  the  innermost  truth  of  life — nothing  is  secular,  but 
every  human  interest  stands  disclosed  in  its  ideal  sacredness. 
Money  is  a  means  of  the  communion  of  saints.  Giving  and  re- 
ceiving is  an  ordinance  of  Christian  love.  A  "grace"  and  a 
"fellowship"  {kolvovCo.)  it  is  called  by  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 

Wets  vi.  3.  ^To  the  Philippians,  c.  5. 


164  Christianity  as  Organised 

when  gathering  gifts  of  money  for  Jews/  Buying  and  selhng 
is  as  truly  a  moral  as  an  economic  interchange.  The  finances 
of  the  Church  may  be  so  conducted — with  such  equity,  wisdom. 
Christlike  kindness — as  to  make  them  a  spiritual  power.  Lucre, 
which  is  so  often  "filthy"  that  the  word  is  commonly  used  in 
that  ill  sense,  becomes  in  the  hands  of  honesty  entirely  clean,  and 
in  the  hands  of  benevolence  powerful  for  good.  "The  silver  is 
mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts."  Verily 
"money  may  always  be  a  beautiful  thing;  it  is  we  who  make  it 
grimy." 

We  have  already  been  led  to  lay  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that 
the  ministration  of  the  Church  is  distinctively  not  to  the  body 
but  to  the  spirit.  And  we  are  now  reminded  that  this  Aery  min- 
istration to  the  spirit  may  be  made  by  means  of  material  things 
— through  giving  food,  through  the  good  and  right  use  of 
money. 

But  let  us,  lingering  a  little  upon  this  truth,  turn  to  the  passage 
itself  in  2  Corinthians,  in  which  giving  is  called  a  "grace."  Or 
rather  let  us  turn  to  the  two  whole  chapters,  the  eighth  and  the 
ninth;  for  this  is  the  one  subject  of  them  both.  To  give  money, 
by  taking  part  in  a  collection  for  poor  Christians — can  we 
imagine  how  it  could  be  named  with  greater  affluence  of  spiritual 
significance  than  to  be  called  a  "grace"  (x^P^?)  ?  It  is  the  word 
which  the  Apostle  applies  in  this  same  connection  to  our  Lord's 
giving  of  the  treasures  of  his  own  truth  and  glory  for  the  en- 
richment of  his  people:  "Ye  know  the  grace  (x'^p'^v)  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  become  rich."" 
A  Christian  use  of  money,  then — what  is  it?  A  recognition  of 
common  kindly  human  relationships,  and  nothing  more?  It  is 
an  expression  of  God's  grace  in  the  heart.  It  shows  a  spirit  of 
good  will  that  may  be  called  by  the  same  name  as  that  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — though  the  difference  of  its  greatness 

^2  Cor.  viii.  4.  Mi.  viii.  9. 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  165 

in  him  and  in  iis  is  no  less  than  infinite — which  was  shown  in 
his  own  self-giving  to  the  world. 

But  here  is  something  else  to  be  noted.  Paul  reminds  the 
Corinthians  that  these  gifts  of  money  about  which  he  is  writing 
are  not  to  be  conveyed  by  himself  alone  to  the  needy  Christians 
in  Jerusalem.  On  the  contrary,  the  various  contributing  church- 
es have,  with  his  cooperation,  appointed  certain  brethren — Luke, 
Trophimus,  and  others  perhaps — to  go  with  him  as  joint  con- 
veyers of  the  money. 

Why  so?  In  order  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  occasion 
of  insinuation  or  suspicion,  on  the  part  of  Paul's  enemies,  as  to 
his  fair  dealing  in  this  matter.  If  he  alone  should  handle  the 
money,  they  who  were  accusing  him  already  of  this  or  that  evil- 
doing  might  accuse  him — absurd  as  it  would  now  seem  to  all 
the  world — of  gathering  it  professedly  for  the  poor  but  really 
to  be  appropriated,  at  least  in  part,  to  liis  own  personal  use. 
Now  such  a  slander  must,  if  possible,  be  avoided.  For  it  be- 
hooves the  Church  to  "take  thought  for  things  honorable  not 
only  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  but  also  in  the  sight  of  men;'"  and 
in  the  early  centuries,  as  now  in  our  own,  one  of  the  commonest 
sins  was  the  misuse  of  money.  In  the  early  centuries,  as  now  in 
our  own,  therefore,  one  of  the  commonest  suspicions  of  untrust- 
worthy character  was  that  a  man  had  acted  dishonestly  with 
other  people's  money  placed  in  his  hands.  Let  the  Church,  then, 
be  careful  to  avoid  all  occasion  for  such  suspicions.  For  it  must 
take  thought  for  honorableness  even  "in  the  sight  of  men."  Paul 
himself  would  have  its  good  reputation,  as  intrusted  to  his  keep- 
ing, safeguarded  by  all  proper  precautions. 

Accordingly  it  was  the  wisdom  of  the  Church  to  call  for  the 
finest  possible  Christian  character  in  its  financial  officers.  The 
deacon  must,  through  the  abiding  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  live 
above  even  the  subtlest  temptation  to  dishonesty. 

But  who  are  the  poor?  An  answer  of  early  Christianity  was, 
They  are  God's  altar.     To  give  to  a  widow,  an  orphan,  or  the 

*ch.  viii.  21. 


1 66  Christianity  as  Organised 

poor,  was  to  lay  an  offering  upon  the  altar  of  God/  Whatsoever 
might  be  given  to  them  was  offered  to  him.  And  why  should  it 
not  have  been  so  conceived  of?  For  these  were  the  classes  of 
needy  ones  to  whom  their  fellow-Christians  must,  first  of  all,  do 
good  and  communicate ;  and  was  it  not  written,  "But  to  do  good 
and  to  communicate  forget  not,  for  with  such  sacrifices  God  is 
well  pleased?""  Blessed  above  all  official  celebrants  are  the 
priests  and  priestesses  who  minister  at  this  ancient  altar  of  God 
which  "ye  have  always  with  you." 

Besides,  in  ministries  to  the  physical  needs  of  men  the  oppor- 
tunity is  constantly  afforded  to  speak  directly  to  the  life  of  the 
conscience  and  the  heart.  "Let  the  deacons  going  about,"  says 
an  ancient  homily,  "look  after  the  bodies  and  the  souls  of  the 
brethren."  No  wonder  that  two  of  the  Seven,  Stephen  and 
Philip,  are  soon  found  preaching  the  word  with  power  to  the 
people.  Surely  the  deacon  might  magnify  his  office  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  the  visiting  Healer  and  Teacher. 

7.  Through  Flesh  to  Spirit. 

Are  there  those  who  serve  in  an  office  which  they  can  magnify 
as  fittingly  in  that  Name  in  the  Church  of  to-day?  There  are 
those  who  seek  out  the  most  repulsive  places  of  their  own  land, 
or  even  go  to  the  ends  of  the  world,  to  do  such  twofold  service. 
The  pitiful  cry  of  human  need  will  not  let  them  rest  at  home. 
Who  then  are  these  Christian  men  and  women?  Waving  them 
farewell  from  the  shores  of  their  native  land,  do  we  possess 
enough  of  their  spirit  to  understand  it?  The  typical  arm-chair 
critic  does  not.  Or  perhaps  we  have  been  so  absorbed  in  the 
consideration  of  great  and  beautiful  abstract  truths,  or  in  ideal- 

^"Knowing  that  they  [the  widows]  are  the  altar  of  God."  (Polycarp  to 
Philippians,  4.) 

"An  orphan  who,  by  reason  of  his  youth,  or  he  that  by  the  feebleness 
of  old  age,  or  the  incidence  of  a  disease,  or  the  bringing  up  of  many  chil- 
dren, receives  alms,  such  a  one  shall  not  only  not  be  blamed  but  shall  be 
commended;  for  he  shall  be  esteemed  an  altar  to  God."  (Apost.  Const.,  Bk. 
IV.,  3.) 

^Heb.  xiii.  16. 


Service:  Deacon — Early  Office  167 

izing  men  and  conditions  in  the  Ancient  Catholic  Church,  as  not 
to  see  what  is  directly  before  our  eyes.  Some  day,  it  may  be,  we 
shall  awake  to  acknowledge  with  regret :  There  stood  among  us 
those  whom  we  knew  not. 

The  medical  nn'ssionary  may  be  taken  as  an  illustrative  ex- 
ample. His  brothers — in  China,  let  us  say — are  without  the 
knowledge  of  medicine  and  surg•er3^  Most  of  them  are  misera- 
bly poor.  The}'  are  helplessly  suffering  by  the  million  with 
wounds  or  diseases  from  which  he  has  the  power  to  bring  re- 
lief. He  goes  to  heal  tliem.  They  do  not  know  themselves  to 
be  the  objects  of  a  Di^"ine  lo^•e  and  care.  He  goes  to  teach  them 
by  the  fitly  spoken  word  and  by  his  own  life  of  Christly  wisdom 
and  lo^•e.  There,  in  the  dispensary,  the  hospital,  and  the  homes 
of  the  people,  he  lives  cheerfully,  manfully,  unselfishly  from 
day  to  day.  In  his  hand  are  veritable  leaves  of  healing  from  the 
Tree  of  Life;  and  men  are  saved,  body  and  soul.^ 

Has  the  kingdom  of  God  come  with  power?     Is  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  Christ,  or  must  the  Messianic  idea  still  await  the  time 
when  it  shall  be  made  a  fact?     "Lepers  are  cleansed, 
the  poor  have  good  tidings  preached  to  them."" 


'"True  medical  missionary  work  is  evangelical.  Our  Lord  never  separated 
the  two,  but  preached  or  taught  and  healed  as  he  went,  and  so  should 
we.     .     .     . 

"The  medical  missionary  has  unrivaled  opportunities  for  preaching  the 
gospel ;  and  while  he  carries  the  lancet  in  one  hand,  he  must  ever  be  ready 
with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  the  other.     .     .     . 

"One  very  rainy  da}'  my  wife  and  I  sat  down  to  look  into  the  spiritual 
history  of  these  inquirers.  .  .  .  V\t  were  surprised  and  delighted  to  find 
that  every  one  of  them  came  to  us  as  patients.  Humanly  speaking,  these 
two  little  churches  would  never  have  been  started  but  for  that  medical 
work,  and  v.e  might  never  have  met  those  Christians,  who  shortly  after 
were  baptized,  but  for  their  having  some  little  trouble  that  required  the  as- 
sistance of  a  doctor."  ("World-Wide  Evangelization:  Addresses  Delivered 
before  the  Fourth  International  Convention  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment," pp.  511.  512,  524.) 

"Luke  vii.   22. 


IV. 
THE  DEACON:  HIS  LATER  AND  PRESENT  OFFICE. 

If  now  we  ask  for  direct  information  as  to  the  duties  per- 
taining to  the  office  of  deacon,  we  shall  find  that  the  very  earliest 
given  in  Christian  literature  represents  him  as  the  bishop's  as- 
sistant. He  is  compared  to  Timothy  in  attendance  upon  the 
apostle  Paul,  and  is  even  enthusiastically  called  the  bishop's  min- 
istering angel.  "What  are  the  deacons,"  asks  an  early  Chris- 
tian writer,  "but  imitators  of  the  angelic  powers,  fulfilling  a 
pure  and  blameless  ministry  unto  him  [the  bishop],  as  the  holy 
Stephen  did  to  the  blessed  Jesus,  Timothy  and  Linus  to  Paul, 
Anencletus  and  Clement  to  Peter?'"  They  must  report  every- 
thing to  the  bishop,  and  must  do  nothing  without  his  knowledge 
and  authority.  They  are  called,  in  still  extravagant  metaphor, 
the  bishop's  eye  and  ear  and  mouth  and  soul." 

I.  Assistance  Threefold. 

More  particularly  this  assistance  rendered  by  the  deacon  to 
the  bishop  was  threefold :  First,  in  the  conduct  of  worship ;  sec- 

^ Ignatius,  "To  the  Trallians"   (Longer  Recension),  6. 

^The  bishop  and  presbyters  sat  on  their  "thrones"  in  the  church ;  the 
deacons  stood  near  them,  Hke  the  sailors  of  a  ship  of  which  the  bishop  was 
commander.  (Apost.  Const.  II.,  57.)  See  also  Jerome,  "To  Evangelus :" 
"But  even  in  the  church  of  Rome  [where  the  diaconate  was  exceptionally 
honored]  the  deacons  stand  while  the  presbyters  seat  themselves." 

"Let  him  [the  deacon]  not  do  anything  at  all  without  his  bishop."  (Apost. 
Const,  Bk.  II.,  31,  2>2.) 

"Let  the  deacon  refer  all  things  to  the  bishop.  .  .  .  But  let  him  order 
such  things  as  he  is  able  by  himself,  receiving  power  from  the  bishop.  .  .  . 
But  the  weighty  matters  let  the  bishop  judge;  but  let  the  deacon  be  the 
bishop's  ear  and  eye  and  mouth  and  heart  and  soul,  that  the  bishop  may  not 
be  distracted  with  many  cares,  but  only  with  such  as  are  more  considerable,  as 
Jethro  did  appoint  for  Moses,  and  his  counsel  was  received."  (Ibid.,  Bk. 
11.,  44.) 

(168) 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Office  169 

ondly,  in  ministration  to  the  poor  and  the  distressed;  thirdly,  in 
the  exercise  of  discipline. 

( 1 )  The  deacon's  service  in  the  conduct  of  worship  is  seen 
in  his  connection  with  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.' 
For  this  was  the  central  rite  about  which  all  the  forms  of  con- 
gregational worship  were  gathered.  The  early  liturgies  that 
have  been  transmitted  to  our  day  are,  without  exception,  sacra- 
mental. Preaching  was  not  referred  to  in  the  liturgies,  it  hav- 
ing already  become  a  fast-diminishing  quantity.  Meetings  for 
prayer  and  mutual  edification  had  ceased.  The  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  how^ever,  was  regular  and  frequent — every 
Sunday  or  oftener.  The  bishop,  or  pastor,  had  charge  of  tlie 
services ;  but  the  deacon  must  also  be  present  as  an  assistant. 
It  was  his  part  to  keep  order  in  the  congregation;  sometimes  to 
read  the  Gospel ;  to  arrange  the  sacramental  vessels ;  to  pro- 
nounce such  liturgic  sentences  as,  "Let  us  attend  in  wisdom," 
"In  peace  let  us  pray  to  the  Lord,"  "Salute  ye  one  another  with 
the  holy  kiss ;"  and  to  distribute  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine 
to  the  communicants." 

(2)  It  is  worth  while  to  note  also  that  the  service  of  the 
poor  and  the  service  of  the  Lord's  table,  the  two  chief  duties  of 
the  deacon  in  the  early  churches,  were  more  closely  related  than 
might  at  first  sight  appear.  For  it  was  from  the  Lord's  table 
that  the  wants  of  the  poor  were  supplied — as  they  had  formerly 
been  supplied  from  the  love  feast.  There  the  contributions  of 
the  people  were  brought,  and  thence  through  the  hands  of  the 

^"And  when  the  president  has  given  thanks,  and  all  the  people  have  ex- 
pressed their  assent,  those  who  are  called  by  us  deacons  give  to  each  of 
those  present  to  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine  mixed  with  water  over 
which  the  thanksgiving  was  pronounced,  and  to  those  who  are  absent  they 
carry  away  a  portion."     (Justin  Martyr,  "First  Apology,"  65  ) 

Cf.  the  Form  of  ordaining  Deacons  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches: 
"It  appertaineth  to  the  office  of  a  deacon  to  assist  the  elder  in  divine  service, 
and  especially  when  he  ministereth  the  holy  communion  to  help  him  in  the 
distribution  thereof." 

-"The  Divine  Liturgy  of  James,"  passim. 


170  Clirisfiaiiify  as  Organised 

deacons  distributed  among  the  necessitous  cases/  Worship  and 
service,  the  reverent  heart  and  the  helping  hand,  were  joined 
together,  as  in  spirit  they  should  always  be.  Not,  however,  that 
the  deacon's  whole  duty  to  the  poor  was  embraced  in  the  cir- 
cumspect distribution  of  what  was  brought  for  them  to  the 
Lord's  table.  He  must  also  seek  them  out  for  any  possible  min- 
istration at  their  homes,  or  in  their  homelessness.  So  he  was 
largely  an  out-of-doors  officer — expected  to  seek  as  well  as  be 
sought,  to  take  the  initiative,  to  do  much  personal  beneficent 
work. 

(3)  But  it  was  not  only  thus  that  he  became  as  "eyes  to  the 
bishop."  A  more  difficult  duty  was  laid  upon  him.  The  deacon 
must  be  a  minister  of  discipline  as  well  as  of  food  or  money. 
Actively  going  about,  he  must  observe  the  conduct  of  church 
members,  prevent,  when  possible,  the  commission  of  sin,  check 
the  disorderly,  reporting  all  things  to  the  bishop.'  In  a  word, 
he  was  instructed :  "It  is  your  duty  who  are  deacons  to  visit  all 
who  stand  in  need  of  visitation."* 

It  was  also  the  function  of  a  deacon  to  baptize  in  the  absence 


^Cf.  the  custom  of  modern  evangelical  churches. 

"Whilst  these  sentences  are  in  reading,  the  deacons,  church  wardens, 
or  other  fit  persons  appointed  for  that  purpose,  shall  receive  the  alms  for 
the  poor,  and  other  devotions  of  the  people."  (Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
"Order  for  the  Administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.")  Note  also  the  same 
Order  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches. 

"An  offering  for  the  poor  or  other  sacred  purpose  is  appropriate  in  con- 
nection with  this  service,  and  may  be  made  at  such  times  as  shall  be  ordered 
by  the  session."  (Book  of  Church  Order  of  the  Presb3'terian  Church  in 
the  United  States.) 

"It  is  an  almost  universal  custom  among  our  churches  to  take  a  collection 
at  the  close  [of  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper],  'the  offering  for 
the  sick  and  needy,'  of  which  the  deacons  are  the  custodians  and  almoners." 
(Hiscdx,  "The  New  Directory  for  Baptist  Churches,"  p.  133.) 

*"Let  the  deacons  of  the  church  going  about  with  intelligence  be  as  eyes 
to  the  bishop,  carefully  inquiring  about  the  doings  of  each  member  of  the 
church,  ascertaining  who  is  about  to  sin,  in  order  that,  being  arrested  by 
admonition  by  the  president,  he  may  haply  not  accomplish  the  sin.  Let  them 
check  the  disorderly."     (Clementines,  Epist.  to  James,  12.) 

^\post.  Const.,  Bk.  IIL,  19. 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Office  171 

of  a  presbyter/  and  with  the  permission  of  the  bishop  to  preach'' 
— assisting  thus  even  in  the  ministry  of  the  word. 

2.  The  Bishop's  Adviser  and  Deputy. 

But  ere  long  the  deacons  became  more  than  mere  helpers  or 
servants  of  the  bishop.  They  became  his  advisers,  confidants, 
deputies.  Very  important  missions  were  intrusted  to  them. 
Hence  it  was  not  rare  for  individual  deacons  to  excel  their 
brethren  of  the  next  higher  order,  the  presbyteratc,  in  dignity 
and  power.  Nor,  unhappily,  was  it  rare  for  jealousies  to  arise 
between  individual  members  of  the  lower  and  of  the  higher 
order. 

This  advisory  and  confidential  relation  of  the  deacon  to  the 
bishop  will  help  to  account  for  a  certain  special  development  of 
the  diaconate — for  the  development  of  the  office  of  archdeacon. 
This  office  was  filled  from  time  to  time  by  some  of  the  most 
highly  gifted  and  influential  men  of  the  Church :  such  as  Atha- 
nasius  in  Egypt,  the  renowned  champion  of  orthodoxy  at  the 
Council  of  Nice ;  Leo  the  Great  and  Hildebrand  in  Italy,  the 
one  "the  first  pope"  and  the  other  a  real  pope  before  his  election 
to  the  papacy ;  Bossuet  in  France ;  and  more  than  one,  whose 
names  may  be  readily  recalled,  in  England.  Its  origin  is  not 
altogether  clear.  It  may  be  traced  back,  however,  to  the  fourth 
century.  For  a  time  it  seems  not  to  have  risen  to  any  great 
importance ;  and,  in  fact,  it  never  did  become  important  in  the 
Eastern  Church.  Its  evolution  in  the  West  is  what  we  shall 
here  follow. 

The  archdeacon,  then,  seems  to  have  been  at  first  simph^  the 
senior  deacon,  to  w^hom,  as  having  been  longest  in  office,  a  posi- 

'"Of  giving  it  [baptism]  the  chief  priest  (who  is  the  bishop)  has  the 
right;  in  the  next  place  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  yet  not  without  the 
bishop's  authority."     (Tertullian,  "On  Baptism,"  17.) 

Cf.  the  Form  of  Ordaining  Deacons  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South:  "It  appertaineth  to  the  off.ce  of  a  deacon  ...  in  the  absence  of 
an  elder  to  baptize."  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  omitted  from 
this  Form  of  Ordination  the  words  "in  the  absence  of  an  elder." 

^Bingham,  "Antiquities,"  Vol.  I.,  Bk.  ii.,  c.  20,  il. 


172  Christianity  as  Organised 

tion  of  precedence  was  accorded.  There  was  no  election.  Later, 
he  was  probably  elected  by  bishop  and  deacons  conjointly.  Still 
later  the  bishop  exercised  the  exclusive  right  of  appointment. 

This  chief  deacon  was  charged  with  the  instruction  of  the 
other  deacons  and  the  inferior  clergy  in  the  performance  of 
their  duties;  and  in  the  course  of  time,  with  the  examination  of 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  as  to  both  literary  attainments  and 
personal  character.  The  devotional  services  of  the  bishop's 
church  were  under  his  supervision.  The  church  funds  were 
placed  in  his  hands. 

There  was  also  developed  a  rural  archdeacon,  to  whom  a  cer- 
tain district  of  the  diocese  was  assigned.  Indeed,  while  at  first 
there  was  but  one  archdeacon  to  a  diocese,  after  the  eighth  cen- 
tury there  were,  in  most  cases,  several. 

Nor  was  it  necessary  that  the  archdeacon  should  be  chosen 
from  the  ranks  of  the  deacons;  for  after  the  ninth  century  the 
rural  archdeacon  was  sometimes  and  the  city  (or  cathedral) 
archdeacon  usually  chosen  from  the  presbyters. 

But  what  we  have  chiefly  to  observe  is  that  the  archdeacon's 
principal  function  was  to  assist  the  bishop  in  the  administrative 
affairs  of  the  diocese.  He  was  not  only  "the  bishop's  eye  and 
ear  and  mouth  and  soul,"  but  also  his  hand;  he  must  govern  as 
well  as  see  and  report.  He  sat  in  councils  as  the  bishop's  repre- 
sentative. Indeed,  the  archdeacon  came  to  have  a  jurisdiction 
of  his  own,  and  to  rule  almost  as  if  we  were  the  supreme  ruler 
of  the  diocese/ 

He  would  fain  himself  have  become,  in  fact  if  not  in  name,  a 
bishop.  We  are  reminded  of  the  feudal  lords  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  who  were  prone  to  ignore  the  authority  of  their  sover- 
eigns, to  whom  they  were  bound  in  service  as  vassals,  and  to 
reign   within   their    respective   territories   as    independent    little 


^"In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  the  powers  of  the  archdeacon 
reached  their  climax.  They  received  a  jurisdiction  of  their  own,  suspended 
and  excommunicated  priests,  held  synods,  and  in  many  ways  tried  to  enlarge 
their  rights  at  the  expense  of  the  bishop."  (McClintock  and  Strong's  Cy- 
clopedia, Art.  "Archdiaconate."" 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Oifice  173 

kings.  Of  course  what  is  illustrated  in  any  such  case  is  the  not 
uncommon  moral  fault  of  usurpation — the  agent  assuming  the 
rights  of  the  principal.  But  the  usurping  archdeacon  was  not 
permitted  to  have  his  own  way.  The  church  councils  brought 
him  back  into  the  proper  diaconal  relation  to  the  bishop. 

In  the  Church  of  England  the  archdeacon  has  been  retained  as 
a  prominent  and  serA'iceable  officer.  Like  his  mediaeval  proto- 
type, he  examines  candidates  for  the  ministry,  stands  very  close- 
ly related  to  the  bishop,  and  is  charged  with  a  large  share  of 
the  government  and  administration  of  the  diocese. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  deacon,  notwith- 
standing his  large  increase  in  dignity  and  power  through  his 
association  witli  the  bishop,  remained  simply  a  minister  without 
any  strictly  sacerdotal  functions.  Only  the  presbyter  was  a  min- 
ister transformed  into  a  priest.  Yet  the  deacons  might  be  re- 
garded as  on  their  way  to  the  priesthood ;  for  it  was  out  of  their 
order  that  the  occupants  of  the  higher  order  of  the  presbyterate, 
or  priesthood,  were  selected.'  The  diaconate  became  thus  a 
stepping-stone  to  the  presbyterate. 

It  is  true  that  not  infrequently  the  deacon  remained  a  deacon 
during  life,  never  being  ordained  a  presbyter.  And  it  has  con- 
tinued to  be  so  in  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  to  the  present 
day.  Here  the  curates  of  parishes  are  in  many  instances  life- 
long deacons. 

Usually,  however,  the  diaconate  was  an  office  preparatory  to 

^Sonie  have  supposed  that  a  reference  to  this  promotion  of  deacons  to 
the  order  of  presbyters  is  made  in  i  Timothy  iii.  13:  "For  they  that  have  served 
well  as  deacons  gain  to  themselves  a  good  standing."  But  the  word  fiadudg 
does  not  require  this  interpretation — even  if  it  should  admit  of  it.  The  evi- 
dence seems  to  show  plainly  enough  that  the  idea  of  such  a  promotion  is 
of  later  than  New  Testament  origin. 

"For  those  who  have  been  deacons  of  good  report  and  blameless  purchase 
to  themselves  the  pastorate."  ("Sources  of  the  Apostolic  Canons,"  B.  6, 
Wheatley's  Translation.) 

See  also  the  prayer  at  the  Ordination  of  a  Deacon:  "Do  thou  render 
him  worthy  to  discharge  acceptably  the  ministration  of  a  deacon,  .  .  . 
that  thereby  he  may  attain  a  higher  degree."     (Apost.  Const.,  VIII.,  18.) 


174  Christianity  as  Organized 

the  next  higher.  For  as  it  is  well  that  every  business  should  be 
entered  through  an  apprenticeship,  so  is  it  surely  the  part  of 
discretion  that  every  difficult  and  responsible  office  should  be 
preceded  by  a  period  of  testing  and  probation.  He  who  would 
be  made  ruler  "over  five  cities"  must  first  be  found  for  a  time 
"faithful  in  a  very  little."  And  as  such  a  period  of  test  and 
probation  for  the  intending  presbyter,  the  diaconate  came  to  be 
utilized. 

But  certain  retrogressive  changes  were  also  taking  place.  As 
to  the  deacon's  share  in  the  exercise  of  discipline,  it  became  less 
and  less  till  it  finally  disappeared.  As  to  the  ministration  to  the 
poor  and  the  distressed,  which  seems  to  have  been  originally  the 
chief,  or  even  the  sole,  function  of  the  deacon,  we  find  it  also 
declining  in  prominence  and  importance.  Because,  after  the 
recognition  of  Christianity  by  the  State  and  the  consequent  mul- 
tiplication of  churches,  there  was  less  need  of  such  ministration. 
A  broader  provision  was  now  made  for  the  needy  classes.  Asy- 
lums for  widows,  orphans,  the  aged,  the  sick,  and  the  poor  were 
formed.  Thus  the  larger  part  of  the  most  distinctive  service 
rendered  in  primitive  times  by  the  deacon  was  taken  out  of  his 
hands.^ 

And  now  let  us  look  back  from  the  view-point  which  we  have 
reached  in  the  history  of  the  diaconate — say,  A.D.  500 — and 
note  the  chief  changes  that  have  occurred.  The  New  Testament 
office,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  was  ( i )  independent  as  to 
position,  (2)  permanent  as  to  tenure,  (3)  a  ministration  to  the 
poor  as  to  function.  The  ecclesiastical  office  is  (i)  no  longer 
independent  but  subsidiary  to  the  episcopate,  (2)  no  longer  in 
the  fullest  sense  permanent  but  preparatory  to  the  presbyterate, 
and  (3)  no  longer  specially  charged  with  ministration  to  the 
poor.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  deacon  attending  upon  the  bish- 
op in  various  kinds  of  service  is  especially  charged  with  a  part  in 
the  conduct  of  worship,  and  in  the  case  of  the  archdeacon  with  a 
part  in  the  administration  of  episcopal  government. 

^Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp.  52-54. 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Office  175 

The  original  title  has  been  retained,  but  almost  nothing  more. 
A  new  office,  which  we  cannot  suppose  would  have  been  rec- 
ognized by  an  Apostle,  has  arisen  under  the  name  of  the  old. 

3.  In  the  Present  Age. 

This  new  or  transformed  office  has  been  prominently  perpetu- 
ated through  the  subsequent  centuries. 

In  the  Roman  Church  it  is  the  function  of  the  deacon  to  ac- 
company the  bishop  here  and  there,  to  attend  upon  him  when 
preaching,  to  announce  to  him  the  names  of  catechumens  and 
of  candidates  for  Holy  Orders,  and  to  report  to  him  those  within 
his  diocese  who  are  living  unfaithful  lives.  He  is  also  to  read 
the  Gospel  and  otherwise  assist  at  the  Mass.  And  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  bishop  he  may  expound  the  Gospel,  though  this  is 
not  regarded  as  one  of  his  ordinary  functions.^ 

In  the  two  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches,  which  in  this  re- 
spect are  formed,  like  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  on  the 
model  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  deacon  is  a  minister  with 
authority  to  read  and  expound  the  Scriptures  in  the  congrega- 
tion, to  baptize,  and  to  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.^  After  serving  in  this  office  for  a  prescribed  time,  he 
is  eligible  to  elders'  orders ;  and,  even  awaiting  this  second  or- 
dination, he  may  have  charge  of  a  congregation  as  its  pastor. 
In  these  four  Episcopal  churches,  therefore,  the  original  finan- 
cial function  of  the  office  has  entirely  disappeared,  the  liturgic 
function  has  been  retained,  as  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  the 

^Donovan,  "Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  p.  219. 

"It  is  true  that  in  these  churches  the  deacon  is  instructed  at  ordination 
that  "it  is  his  office  to  search  for  the  sick,  poor,  and  impotent,  that  they 
may  be  visited  and  reheved,"  and  is  asked:  "Will  you  do  this  gladly  and 
willingly?"  But  the  charge  is  appropriate  only  because  of  its  appropriate- 
ness to  any  Christian  pastor.  For  the  opportunity  and  duty  of  the  elder 
toward  the  poor  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  deacon.  It  is  the  office  of  the 
"steward,"  who  is  also  instructed  to  "seek  the  needy  and  distressed  in  order 
to  relieve  them,"  and  in  whose  hands  is  placed  the  money  with  which  the 
wants  of  the  poor  are  to  be  relieved,  that  in  Methodism  more  specifically 
represents  the  apostolic  diaconate. 


176  Christianity  as  Organised 

occasional  service  of  preaching  has  become  obligatory  and  reg- 
ular/ 

In  the  Presbyterian,  the  Congregational,  and  the  Baptist 
Churches  the  deacon,  keeping  much  closer  to  the  primitive  type, 
is  still  chiefly  a  financial  officer.  The  management  of  church 
funds,  including  the  care  of  the  poor,  is  largely  in  his  hands. 
In  the  Congregational  and  the  Baptist  Churches  he  also  assists 
at  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  simply  as  a  layman-;  for,  as  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  he  is  neither  preacher  nor  pastor. 

4.  Extension  of  the  Diaconate. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  so-called  higher  offices  of  the  Church 
we  must  take  note  of  a  certain  extension  of  the  diaconate  in  two 
very  different  directions. 

( I )  In  the  second  or  the  third  century  it  was  extended  so  as 
to  include  under  its  general  idea  of  assistance  another  assistant 
in  the  worship  and  work  of  the  Church.  This  was  the  sub- 
deacon. 

It  has  been  surmised,  not  unreasonably,  that  the  office  of  sub- 
deacon  arose  out  of  two  causes.  One  cause  was  the  custom  that 
prevailed,  at  least  in  some  churches — through  the  mechanical 
imitation  of  the  New  Testament  precedent  already  referred  to^ — 
of  having  but  seven  deacons  in  a  congregation."  In  the  case  of 
a  large  congregation — like  that  of  Rome,  for  example — more 
than  seven  were  needed ;  and  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  be  had, 
the  sub-diaconate  was  devised  to  supply  the  lack  of  service. 
The  other  cause  was  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  deacon  to  get 
rid  of  the  less  "dignified"  functions  of  his  office,  and  thus  while 
ministering  to  be  ministered  unto.  Neither  of  which  conjectured 
causes  seems  able  to  bear  the  light  of  Christ. 

^In  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  deacon  to 
"read  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Homilies  in  the  church,"  and  "to  preach 
if  he  be  admitted  thereto  by  the  bishop."  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churches,  he  is  admitted  "to  read  and  expound  the  Holy  Scriptures."  (See 
the  respective  Forms  of  Ordination.) 

*Acts  vi.  1-6. 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Office  177 

The  sub-deacon  served  as  assistant  to  both  the  deacon  and 
the  priest.  To  the  deacon  he  brought  the  paten  and  the  chaHce 
for  the  Lord's  Supper,  putting  them  back  in  their  place  after 
the  communion.  To  the  priest  he  offered  water  for  the  cere- 
monial washing  of  his  hands  when  officiating.  It  was  also  his 
duty  to  keep  order  about  the  church  door,  and  to  give  notice  at 
the  proper  time  tliat  all  penitents  should  quit  the  congregation, 
and  the  faithful  remain. 

(2)  The  diaconate  was  extended  in  the  direction  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  woman  deacons,  which  shall  be  the  subject  of  the 
next  chapter. 

Four  others  of  the  less  prominent  officers  that  appear  in  the 
development  of  the  ecclesiastic  hierarchy  may  here  also  claim  a 
moment's  attention — namely,  the  Acoh-te.  the  Reader,  and  the 
Doorkeeper. 

The  acolyte,  notwithstanding  his  Greek  name  (okoXovOo^,  an  at- 
tendant ) .  made  his  appearance  in  the  Latin  Church,  and  seems 
never  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  East.  At  his  ordination 
two  articles  were  put  into  his  hands  by  the  archdeacon — a  pitcher, 
and  a  candlestick  bearing  a  lighted  taper.  These  were  the  sym- 
bols of  his  office,  which  was  chiefly  to  wait  upon  the  officiating 
priest  with  wine  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  to  light  the  candles 
in  the  church.  It  was  at  this  lighting  of  the  lamps,  in  the  twi- 
light service,  that  the  bealitiful  evening  hymn  that  has  come 
down  to  our  own  time  was  sung: 

O  gladsome  light 
Of  the  Father  immortal, 
And  of  the  celestial. 
Sacred,  and  blessed 
Jesus  our  Saviour ! 

Now  to  the  sunset 
Again  hast  thou  brought  us; 
And  seeing  the  evening 
Twilight,  we  bless  thee, 
Praise  thee,  adore  thee. 
12 


178  Christianity  as  Organised 

Father  omnipotent ! 
Son,  the  Life-giver! 
Spirit,   the   Comforter ! 
Worthy  at  all  times 
Of  worship  and  wonder. 

The  exorcist  was  not  at  first  an  official  in  the  Church,  but  any 
Christian  who  may  have  been  supposed  to  possess  the  gift  of 
casting  out  evil  spirits.'  In  fact,  it  seems  to  have  been  taught 
by  some — by  Tertullian,  for  example" — that  all  Christians  either 
had  or  might  have  this  power. 

Afterwards,  however,  the  exorcist  was  a  man  duly  set  apart 
by  the  bishop,  but  without  the  imposition  of  hands,  for  the  per- 
formance of  this  function.  Delivering  to  the  candidate  a  book 
in  which  were  the  written  forms  of  exorcism,  the  bishop  gave 
him  the  charge :  "Take  and  commit  to  memory,  and  receive  pow- 
er to  lay  hands  on  demoniacs,  whether  baptized  or  catechu- 
mens."* 

So  far,  then,  the  exorcist's  function  might  be  regarded  as  hav- 
ing been  purely  imaginary  and  vain.  Yet  it  was  not  wholly  so ; 
because  it  became  his  duty  to  pray  for  the  sick  and  diseased  who 

^"An  exorcist  is  not  ordained.  For  it  is  a  trial  of  voluntary  goodness, 
and  of  the  grace  of  God  through  Christ  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  For  he  who  has  received  the  gift  of  healing  is  declared  by  revela- 
tion from  God,  the  grace  which  is  in  him  being  manifest  to  all."  (Const. 
Apos.,  VIII.,  iii.,  26.) 

^Arguing  against  a  Christian's  serving  in  the  army,  he  asks :  "Shall  he 
diligently  protect  by  night  [keeping  guard  at  pagan  temples]  those  who  in 
the  daytime  he  put  to  flight  by  his  exorcisms?"  ("De  Corona,"  11.  See 
also  "Apology,"  23.) 

Origen  may  be  quoted  to  the  same  effect :  "For  it  is  not  by  incantations 
that  Christians  seem  to  prevail  [over  evil  spirits],  but  by  the  name  of  Jesus, 
accompanied  by  the  announcement  of  the  narratives  which  relate  to  him." 
("Contra  Celsus,"  Bk.  I.,  c.  6.) 

^Cf.  the  exorcism  in  the  Administration  of  Public  Baptism  in  the  First 
Prayer  Book  of  King  Edward  VI.  (1549)  :  "I  command  thee,  unclean  spirit, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thou 
come  out  and  depart  from  these  infants,  whom  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath 
vouchsafed  to  call  to  his  holy  baptism,  to  be  made  members  of  his  holy 
body,"  etc.  This  exorcism  held  its  place  in  the  Prayer  Book  for  three  years 
only,  being  omitted  in  the  edition  of  i^.^s. 


Service:  Deacon — Later  OMce  •  179 

were  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  demons,  to  care  for  them,  and 
to  "heal  them,  if  possible." 

"To  heal  them  if  possible;"  so  we  have  here  once  more  the 
idea  of  the  healing  mission  of  Christianity.  For  this  may  be 
taken  as  the  real  suggestiveness,  whatever  its  accompanying 
superstitions,  of  the  exorcist's  office.  Jesus  would  have  the 
bearers  of  his  gospel,  through  all  ages  as  we  may  believe,  to  be 
also  health-bearers,  "to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to  heal 
the  sick."^  His  churches  may  be  storehouses  of  health-giving 
power.  It  may  be  so  undoubtedly  in  our  own  age,  through  hos- 
pitals, through  the  promotion  of  medical  and  surgical  science 
alike  in  Christendom  and  heathendom,  through  private  minis- 
tration. But  more  than  this :  moral  sanity  will  promote  physical 
sanity.  "The  Elder''  prayed  for  his  well-beloved  son  and  host: 
"That  in  all  things  thou  may  est  prosper  and  be  in  health,  even 
as  thy  soul  prospereth.""  And  the  divine  law  under  which  soul 
and  body  live  and  act  together  will  ever  give  its  silent  Amen  to 
such  a  prayer.  Strengthen  the  wavering  will,  lift  up  the  anxious 
or  grovelling  thoughts  to  have  faith  in  God  and  to  dwell  upon 
whatsoever  things  are  just,  true,  honorable,  pure,  lovely,  of  good 
report,  excellent,  praiseworth}' — and  the  whole  man  will  be  made 
strong  in  this  joy  of  the  Lord.  Worthy  of  universal  accepta- 
tion is  the  ancient  witness,  that  "gladness  of  heart  is  the  life  of 
a  man,''  that  "envy  and  wrath  shorten  a  man's  days  and  care 
bringeth  old  age  before  the  time.""  Nor  was  it  a  mere  sick 
man's  whim,  when  a  sufferer  from  nervous  disorder  said :  "Prove 
to  me  that  God  loves  me,  and  I  will  leave  this  place  a  well 
man." 

While,  therefore,  the  Church  in  its  ministry  of  healing  may 
not  be  authorized  to  say  to  the  sick  or  diseased,  "In  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  walk,"  it  may  bring  them  health 
through  prayer  in  Jesus  Christ's  name;  and,  moreover,  by  the 
way  of  the  conscious  and  regnant  soul  it  may  convey  healing 
virtue  even  to  the  unconscious  bodily  organism.     In  which  facts 

^Luke  ix.  2.  "3  John  2.  ^Ecclesiasticus,  Bk.  II.,  22. 


i8o  Christianity  as  Organised 

of  daily  experience  may  be  seen  the  "psychotherapy"  of  science 
and  of  religion. 

Of  late  the  question  has  been  raised — and  illustrated  by  sev- 
eral examples — whether  it  were  well  that  some  such  service  of 
healing  should  be  recognized  and  undertaken  as  one  of  the 
organized  ministrations  of  a  Christian  church." 

The  reader  kept  the  church's  books  of  Scripture,  and  read  the 
lessons  in  congregational  worship.  And  he  was  needed,  what- 
ever may  have  been  true  of  the  exorcist.  Not,  of  course,  that  it 
was  a  new  thing  to  have  the  Scriptures  read  to  the  people.  That 
was  a  custom  that  dated  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  and 
from  far  earlier  days.  It  was  a  part  of  the  order  of  instruction 
and  worship  in  the  Synagogue.  "From  generations  of  old,  in 
every  city,"  the  Law  was  proclaimed,  "being  read  in  the  syn- 
agogues every  Sabbath.""  Our  Lord,  on  at  least  one  Sabbath 
day,  was  reader:  "He  entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into  the  syn- 
agogue on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  to  read."''  The  Apos- 
tle Paul  bids  his  young  helper,  Timothy,  to  attend  to  the  "read- 
ing,"* and  directs  that  epistles  of  his  own  be  read  in  the  church- 
es.^ Justin  Martyr  tells,  in  a  classic  passage,  of  such  reading 
of  the  Gospels  and  the  Prophets  in  his  day.'  But  it  was  not 
until  perhaps  a  generation  after  Justin's  time  that  the  office  of 
reader  was  created.^  Theretofore  the  reading  was  probably  done 
by  one  of  the  existing  office-bearers  or  by  a  layman,  as  might 
seem  expedient.  Now  it  was  elevated  into  a  separate  and  dis- 
tinct office. 

^Fallows,  "Health  and  Healing,"  passim.  ^^cts  xv.  21. 

*Luke  iv.  16.  *i  Tim.  iv.  13.  ^Col.  iv.  16;  i  Thess.  v.  27. 

*"And  on  the  day  called  Sunday  all  who  live  in  cities  or  in  the  country 
gather  together  to  one  place,  and  the  memoirs  of  the  Apostles  [the  Gospels] 
or  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  time  permits.  Then 
when  the  reader  has  ceased,  the  president  orally  instructs  and  exhorts  to 
the  imitation  of  these  good  things."     ("First  Apology,"  67.) 

'It  is  first  mentioned  in  patristic  literature  by  Tertullian,  incidentally : 
"And  so  it  comes  to  pass  [among  heretics]  that  to-day  one  man  is  their 
bishop,  to-morrow  another;  to-day  he  is  a  deacon  who  to-morrow  is  a 
reader."     ("Against  Heresies,"  41.) 


Service:  Deacon — Later  Office  iSi 

And  there  would  seem  to  have  been  a  call  for  such  an  office 
in  the  fact  that  the  congregations  were  not  receiving  the  evan- 
gelical instruction  that  was  needful.  For  the  voice  of  the  proph- 
et-preacher was  coming  to  be  heard  less  and  less  often.  Be- 
sides, the  bishop  was  in  some  instances  an  ''unlearned  man" — 
that  is  to  say,  unable  to  read. 

So  the  reader  was  called  forth,  and  not  simply  as  a  reader,  but 
also  as  an  expounder  of  the  Scriptures,  taking,  in  fact,  the  va- 
cated place  of  the  evangelist/  At  his  ordination  it  was  hoped 
and  prayed  for  that  he  might  prove  to  be  a  prophetic  teacher." 
And  so  he  did,  let  us  believe,  in  some  instances  at  least. 

But  ere  long  the  Scripture-reading  degenerated  into  the 
merest  perfunctory  performance;  for  in  the  devitalized  atmos- 
phere of  an  ever-increasing  sacerdotalism  the  living  voice  of 
truth  sickened  and  ceased.^ 

The  doorkeeper  had  the  keys  of  the  church  edifice  formally 
put  into  his  hands  by  the  bishop,  and  did  such  duties  as  those 
of  the  usher  and  the  sexton  in  modern  churches. 

These  four  offices  were  classed  as  Minor  Orders.  The  offices 
of  priest  and  deacon  were  the  Higher,  or  "Holy,"  Orders.  How 
about  the  office  of  sub-deacon?  That  seems  to  have  been  re- 
garded as  on  the  mystic  border  line  between  the  other  two,  rank- 
ing with  the  Holy  Orders  in  dignity  and  below  them  in  power. 
But  it  was  classed  with  them. 

*"For  reader  one  should  be  appointed  ...  of  a  plain  utterance,  and 
capable  of  clearly  expounding,  mindful  that  he  rules  in  the  place  of  an 
evangelist."  (Harnack,  "Sources  of  the  Apostolic  Canons,"  A.  3;  pp.  15- 
17,  E.  T.) 

^"Ordain  a  reader  by  laying  thy  hands  upon  him,  and  pray  unto  God  and 
say :  O  Eternal  God,  ...  do  thou  also  now  look  upon  thy  servant,  who 
is  to  be  intrusted  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  thy  people,  and  give  thy 
Holy  Spirit,  the  prophetic  spirit."     (Apost.  Const,  VHI.,  iii.,  22.) 

'In  organizing  the  Church  of  Scotland,  John  Knox  provided  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  readers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  read  the  Scriptures  and  the 
congregational  prayers,  but  not  to  preach  or  to  administer  sacraments. 
(Brown,  "Life  of  Knox,"  Bk.  H.,  p.  131.)  Cf.  the  office  of  lay  reader  in 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 


V. 

SERVICE:  THE  DEACONESS. 

We  have  seen  reason  to  believe  that  the  diaconate  is  the  most 
characteristic  and,  in  name  at  least,  the  most  catholic  of  the 
three  chief  offices  in  the  Christian  Church.  But  we  shall  find 
that  it  may  claim  still  another  distinction.  It  is  the  only  one  of 
the  three  which  (except  in  a  few  not  significant  instances)  has 
opened  its  doors  for  the  admission  of  women. 

This  of  course  is  no  matter  of  mere  circumstance  or  accident. 
Is  it  not  an  official  recognition  of  a  certain  immense  amount  of 
special  fitness  for  Christian  ministration  that  would  otherwise 
fail  to  be  utilized?  Sympathetic  personal  service  to  the  needy 
in  body  or  mind — that  was  the  primitive  diaconal  office.  But 
the  same  is  a  distinctive  gift  and  grace  of  womanhood.  For  this 
reason  a  church  itself  may  be  fittingly  thought  of  as  worhan  and 
mother — "the  elect  lady  and  her  children.'"  One  need  not  be 
surprised,  therefore,  if  it  should  appear  that  the  deaconess  more 
nearly  than  the  deacon  represents,  in  the  present  day,  the  original 
idea  of  the  Christian  diaconate." 

I.  Rise  of  the  Woman's  Diaconate. 

The  office  of  deaconess  seems  to  have  had  its  rise  in  the  East. 
As  to  when  and  under  what  circumstances,  however,  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell.  Prior  to  the  fourth  century  there  is  no  refer- 
ence to  it  as  an  existing  institution  anywhere  in  Christian  lit- 
erature. Neither  Ignatius,  nor  Tertullian,  nor  Origen — none  of 
the  fathers  of  the  second  or  the  third  century — makes  any  men- 

^2  John  I. 

^"It  is  no  usurpation  of  office,  but  the  redemption  of  office,  for  them 
[ministering  women]  to  organize  a  corporate  existence  of  their  own  which 
will  require  the  normal  authority  of  the  Church  to  follow  if  it  fail  to  lead. 
Already  its  male  deaconship  is  comparatively  idle,  being  superseded  by  the 
voluntaryism  of  woman."  (McGill,  "Church  Government,"  p.  393-) 
(182) 


Service:  The  Deaconess  183 

tion  of  such  an  office/  The  probabihty  is  that  it  attained  no 
prominence,  even  if  it  had  been  instituted,  before  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. 

True,  a  very  early  suggestion  of  some  such  office  may  be  found 
in  a  letter  from  the  pen  of  a  pagan  writer.  This  letter  is  one  of 
the  famous  official  communications  of  Pliny  the  Younger,  pro- 
consul of  Bithynia,  about  A.D,  112,  to  the  emperor  Trajan. 
The  cultured  Governor  writing  to  his  intimate  friend,  the 
wise  and  energetic  Emperor,  concerning  the  inquiries  he  has 
been  making  into  the  beliefs  and  practices  of  the  Christians,  tells 
of  having  put  to  the  torture,  in  the  course  of  his  investigations, 
two  maidservants  "who  were  called  deaconesses  {ininistra') ."' 
But  whether  the  word  ininisti'a  (the  Latin  equivalent  of  SiaKovto-o-a, 
Zi'oinan  servant),  as  here  used,  implies  membership  in  a  sister- 
hood of  deaconesses,  in  the  present  sense  of  the  word,  is  very 
doubtful.  It  has  been  conjectured  also  that  a  certain  Christian 
woman,  Grapte,  mentioned  by  Hermas  in  "The  Pastor,'"*  was  an 
official  deaconess — the  merest  guess. 

Very  different,  however,  is  the  evidence  offered  on  this  sub- 
ject by  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  Here  we  have  not  only 
the  testimony  of  individual  writers,  such  as  Basil  the  Great, 
Chrysostom,  and  the  historian  Sozomen,  to  the  existence  of  the 
order  of  deaconesses,  but  also  the  decrees  of  General  Councils 
for  its  regulation.* 

Here  indeed,  in  the  fourth  century,  we  shall  find  what  might 
be  called  the  golden  age  of  the  woman's  diaconate.  Chrysostom 
(347-407),  for  example,  had  as  many  as  forty  deaconesses  em- 
ployed  in   his   church   in   Constantinople,   and   six   others  in   a 

^Passages  in  writers  of  this  period  that  have  sometimes  been  used  to 
show  the  existence  of  the  office  of  deaconess — for  example,  Ignatius  to  the 
Smyrneans,  "Conclusion,"  and  Tertullian,  "On  the  Veiling  of  Virgins,"  c. 
ix. — are  better  understood  as  having  no  reference  to  this  office. 

^Ep.  X.  96. 

^"You  will  write,  therefore,  two  books,  and  you  will  send  one  to  Clemens 
and  the  other  to  Grapte,  .  .  .  and  Grapte  will  admonish  the  widows  and 
the  orphans."     (Hermas,  Vis.  ii.  4.") 

*Council  of  Nice,  Can.  XIX.;  Council  of  Chalcedon,  Can.  XV. 


184  Christianity  as  Organised 

suburban  church.  His  numerous  letters,  written  in  exile,  to  the 
leading  spirit  among  them,  a  high-born  and  wealthy  woman  who 
devoted  her  whole  fortune  and  all  else,  with  extreme  ascetic  self- 
denial,  to  her  chosen  ministry,  are  all  aglow  with  Christian  ad- 
miration and  eulogy.  "My  lady,  the  most  reverend  and  reli- 
gious deaconess  Olympias,"  is  the  title  by  which  he  addresses 
her.  Nor  was  the  brave  and  peerless  martyr-preacher  the  only 
great  church  leader  of  that  age  who  highly  approved  the  order. 

Not,  however,  till  the  fifth  century  is  there  proof  of  its  ex- 
tension into  the  West.  Not  until  the  close  of  the  eighth  century 
does  it  appear  in  the  city  of  Rome.^  Never  did  it  attain  unto  any 
considerable  strength  as  a  Western  institution. 

2.  Deaconess  and  "Widow. ^' 

In  tracing  this  history  care  must  be  taken  not  to  confuse  the 
deaconess  and  the  Widow.  Even  in  the  apostolic  churches,  there 
was  an  order  of  Widows,^  which  reappears,  perhaps  in  substan- 
tially the  same  form,  in  the  second  and  some  succeeding  cen- 
turies. They  were  appointed  to  membership  in  the  order — ''en- 
rolled as  a  widow" — though  bv  what  authority  is  unknown. 
And  the  apostolic  requirement  of  not  less  than  sixty  years  as 
the  age  of  enrollment  was  more  or  less  strictly  observed. 

It  may  be  asked,  ^Vere  these  aged  women  to  be  cared  for  by 
the  Church,  or  were  they  to  care  for  others?  Both.  They  were 
first  of  all  to  be  cared  for  by  the  Church.  They  were  its  bene- 
ficiaries. Like  the  widows  of  a  still  earlier  time  in  Jerusalem,' 
being  in  need,  they  had  a  recognized  share  in  the  offerings  of 
the  congregations — till,  indeed,  under  the  Emperor  Constantine, 
an  allowance  was  made  them  by  the  State.  But  this  was  not  all 
that  their  enrollment  meant.  At  least  in  post-apostolic  times 
they  were  also  charged,  certainly  in  some  instances,  with  minis- 
terial duties.     These  duties  were  either  to  give  themselves  to 

^Smith    and    Cheatham,    "Dictionary    of    Biblical    Antiquities,"    Art.    Dea- 
coness.    Cecilia  Robinson,  "Ministry  of  Deaconesses,"  pp.  58,  89. 
'i  Tim.  V.  9-1 1.  'Acts  vi.  r-6. 


Service:  The  Deaconess  185 

prayer  and  fasting  in  seclusion,  especially  as  intercessors  fur 
their  fellow-Christians,  or  to  nurse  the  sick,  counsel  the  young 
women,  and  lead  lieathen  women  to  Christ/ 

But  it  is  evident  that  the  Widows  were  not  the  same  as  the 
deaconesses,  though  in  some  respects  noticeably  similar.  Un- 
like the  deaconess,  the  Widow  was  not  introduced  into  her  office 
by  the  imposition  of  hands  (consecration),  and  did  not  serve  as 
an  assistant  in  baptism  or  as  an  usher  in  the  congregation.  Be- 
sides, it  was  distinctly .  rec|uired  that  the  Widow  should  be  sub- 
ject to  the  deaconess  together  with  the  other  office-bearers  of  the 
Church." 

But  as  to  condition  in  life,  deaconesses  were  usually,  though 
not  invariably,  widows.  Because  in  that  day  very  few  women 
remained  unmarried  till  old  enough  to  be  eligible  to  the  order  of 
deaconess — that  is  to  say,  till  forty  years  of  age. 

Probably  for  this  reason,  in  addition  to  the  fact  of  similarity 
in  service,  the  distinction  between  the  order  of  deaconess  and  that 
of  Widow  was  lost  sight  of.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  it  was 
not  lost  sight  of  in  the  East,  where  the  order  of  deaconess  was 
well  known,  but  only  in  the  West,  where  the  order  was  never 
so  prominent  or  prosperous.  "The  consecration  of  Widows 
whom  they  [probably  the  Eastern  Churches]  call  deaconesses 
[which  in  fact  they  were,  else  they  would  not  have  been  conse- 
crated]," was  the  language  of  a  Gallic  Council  in  the  sixth 
century.^  Naturally  enough,  the  same  confusing  of  two  sep- 
arate and  distinct  orders  of  women  appears  also  in  some  of  the 

'"Three  widows  shall  be  appointed :  two  to  persevere  in  prayer  for  all 
those  who  are  in  temptation,  and  for  the  reception  of  revelations  where 
such  are  necessary,  but  one  to  assist  the  women  visited  with  sicknesses. 
She  must  be  ready  for  service,  discreet,  communicating  what  is  necessary  to 
the  presbyters,  not  avaricious,  not  given  to  much  love  of  wine,  so  that  she 
may  be  sober  and  capable  of  performing  the  night  services,  and  other  loving 
service  if  she  will."  ("Sources  of  the  Apostolic  Canons,"  A.  5  (Wheatley's 
Translation),  pp.  19-21.     Cf.  Apost.  Const.,  III.  5.) 

^"Obedient  to  their  bishops,  and  their  presbyters,  and  their  deacons,  and 
besides  these  to  the  deaconesses."     (Apost.  Const.,  III.  7.) 

'Council  of  Epaone  (5T7),  Can.  XXI. 


i86  Christianity  as  Organised 

Western  ecclesiastical  writers  of  those  days.    And  it  may  be  met 
with  in  some  modern  writers  and  scholars/ 

3.  The  Primitive  Deaconess, 

What  were  the  duties  of  a  deaconess?  In  general  it  was  her 
duty  to  minister  to  women  in  such  relations  as  she  could  fulfill 
better  than  the  deacon.  For  such  ministrations  there  was  then  a 
special  demand,  because  of  certain  ceremonies  connected  with 
the  rite  of  baptism,  and,  as  a  more  general  reason,  because  of 
the  prevalent  customs  as  to  the  separation  of  the  sexes."  The 
opportunities  of  a  present-day  woman  missionary  in  the  Orient, 
where  manners  and  customs  change  so  slowly  from  ancient  to 
modern,  may  serve  somewhat  to  illustrate  these  relations.  The 
deaconess  instructed  female  candidates  for  church  memhership, 
both  before  and  after  baptism,  and  assisted  in  the  baptismal  cer- 
emony.* She  visited  women  in  their  homes — especially,  it  would 
seem,  Christian  women  in  pagan  households — to  tend  them  in 
sickness  and  to  speak  a  word  of  instruction  or  comfort.  In  her 
sphere,  like  the  deacon  in  his,  she  distributed  money  and  pro- 
visions among  the  poor,  and  reported  cases  of  sickness  and  des- 
titution to  the  bishop.*  In  time  of  worship  she  served  as  door- 
keeper or  usher — "guardian  of  the  holy  gate" — to  show  any 
woman  stranger  to  a  seat  among  the  women  of  the  congrega- 
tion.^ In  fact,  like  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  in  our  own  time,  which  is  "meant  to  do  anything  that 
the  Church  wishes  it  to  do/'  the  ancient  deaconess  was  apparent- 

^For  example,  even  in  Bingham,  "Antiquities,"  Bk.  II.,  c.  22. 

-Apost.  Const.,  III.  15,  16. 

'Apost.  Const.,  III.  IS. 

"The  most  important  of  the  functions  of  the  Deaconess  was  that  which 
related  to  the  administration  of  baptism.  The  rites  connected  with  this  sac- 
rament were  elaborate.  Immersion  was  preceded  by  the  anointing  of  the 
whole  body.  Where  the  candidates  were  women  this  ceremony  was  per- 
formed by  the  Deaconess.  She  also  received  them  as  they  came  up  out  of 
the  water,  and  to  her  was  committed  their  further  instruction  in  the  faith." 
(Cecilia  Robinson,  "The  Ministry  of  Deaconesses,"  p.  65.) 

*Apost.  Const.,  III.  19.  "Apost.  Const.,  II.  57- 


Service:  The  Deaconess  187 

ly  intended  to  make  it  her  life  work  to  serve  the  Church  in  any 
way  appropriate  to  her  position  and  possible  to  her  powers.  She 
was  instructed,  for  example,  to  be  zealous  "in  matters  concerning 
bearing  tidings,  traveling,  service,  bondservice."^ 

There  were  no  deaconess  homes  or  training  schools,  as  in 
modern  times.  Nor  have  we  the  record  of  any  requirement  as 
to  the  taking  of  vows  by  the  candidate  for  admission  into  the 
order.  But  she  seems  to  have  been  expected  to  render  a  life- 
long service.  Once  a  deaconess,  always  a  deaconess,  was  the 
spirit  if  not  the  letter  of  the  law. 

The  canonical  age  for  ordination  was  at  first  sixty  and  after- 
wards forty  years — "and  that  with  careful  testing.'"'  An  exces- 
sively high  age  limit,  it  may  be  said.  But  it  was  probably  not 
too  high  for  the  circumstances  of  the  time.  Widows  who  had 
been  twice  married  were  ineligible ;  for  the  early  Church  looked 
with  disfavor  upon  second  marriages,  and  forbade  them  to  its 
ministers.''  Virgins  might  be  admitted  into  the  order,  and  in 
certain  cases  married  women.  Though,  as  just  said,  the  dea- 
coness was  usually  a  widow.  Marriage  after  ordination  was 
forbidden  under  severe  penalties.* 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  order  the  deaconess  was  ordained  by 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  bishop  in  the  presence  of  the 
presbyters,  deacons,  and  deaconesses,  with  a  form  of  prayer.' 
The  prayer  which  seems  to  have  been  customarily  used  was  so 
beautiful  and  appropriate  that  it  has  been  adopted,  almost  with- 
out change,  by  churches  of  to-day.  But  the  imposition  of  hands 
was  regarded  by  a  certain  provincial  council  in  Southern  Gaul  as 
too  strongly  suggestive  of  an  approach  to  the  priesthood;  and 
by  that  council  it  was  accordingly  prohibited.* 

^Apost.  Const,  III.  19.  ^Council  of  Chalcedon,  Can.  XV. 

'Apost.  Const,  III.  2;  VI.  17. 

*"She  shall  be  anathematized."     (Council  of  Chalcedon,  Can.  XV.) 

■'Apost.  Const,  VIII.  19,  20. 

'"Deaconesses  shall  no  longer  be  ordained,  and  [in  divine  service]  they 
shall  receive  the  benediction  only  in  common  with  the  laity  [not  among  those 
holding  clerical  offices]."  (Synod  of  Orange  (441),  Can.  XXVI.  See  Hefele, 
"History  of  the  Councils,  Vol.  III.,  p.  163.) 


i88  Christianity  as  Organised 

Indeed,  not  only  was  the  imposition  of  hands — a  relatively  un- 
important matter — discontinued  in  one  province;  but  the  order 
itself  soon  began  to  show  signs  of  decadence,  even  in  the  East, 
where  it  was  once  so  flourishing. 

The  apparent  causes  of  the  decline  of  so  high  and  fine  a  form 
of  organized  Christianity  were  such  as  the  following :  ( i )  The 
establishment  of  asylums  decreased  somewhat  the  demand  for 
deaconesses  as  well  as  for  deacons.  (2)  After  baptism  by  pour- 
ing or  sprinkling,  and  the  baptism  of  infants,  became  the  prev- 
alent practice,  the  services  of  the  deaconess  were  no  longer  need- 
ed in  the  administration  of  this  sacrament.  (3)  Monasticisni 
disparaged  the  office  by  contemning  woman,  and  by  substituting 
the  nunnery  for  the  field  of  active  service — seclusion  taking  the 
place  of  ministration.^  (4)  Sacerdotalism  offered  scanty  en- 
couragement to  any  form  of  lay  ministration;  for  its  idea  was 
that  of  a  mediating  priesthood,  not  that  of  a  ministering  church. 

So  fell  the  woman's  diaconate  into  disuse.  By  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century  in  the  West,  and  of  the  twelfth  century  in  the 
East,  it  was  rapidly  ceasing  to  be.  But  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  killed  by  decrees  of  councils.  A  Gallic  council,  as  we  have 
seen,  did  forbid  it  the  rite  of  ordination — substituting  for  ordi- 
nation, apparently,  a  simple  diaconal  benediction.  And  a  hun- 
dred years  afterwards  another  Gallic  council  abolished  even  this 
diaconal  benediction,  and  thus  left  the  order  without  any  official 
recognition  within  the  province  represented.^  But  of  course  no 
mere  provincial  council  could  destroy  the  whole  order  of  dea- 
conesses. East  and  West.     It  died  of  a  change  of  environment 

^"It  is  clear  that  the  spirit  of  asceticism  was  growing  rapidly,  and  over- 
shadowing the  practical  life  of  service.  We  have  here  the  first  indication 
of  one  of  the  great  causes  which  led  to  the  decline  of  the  primitive  ideal  of 
the  Deaconess,  and  to  her  gradual  absorption  into  the  monastic  orders  by 
which  she  was  presently  surrounded."  (Cecilia  Robinson,  "The  Ministry 
of  Deaconesses,"  p.  31.) 

-"Moreover,  we  determine  that  to  no  woman  shall  the  diaconal  benediction 
be  intrusted  by  reason  of  the  frailty  of  the  sex."  (Council  of  Orleans  (533), 
Can.  XVIII.) 


Service:  The  Deaconess  189 

acting  upon  an  inner  life  too  feeble  for  self-renewal  and  read- 
justment. 

4.  Revival  of  the  Idea  in  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 

Here,  then,  was  a  form  of  Christian  service  that  was  permitted 
to  lapse,  as  the  darkness  of  the  early  medisevalism  gathered  and 
the  Church  continued  to  gain  the  world  and  lose  herself.  Shall 
we  briefly  note  its  reappearance  and  the  main  lines  of  its  devel- 
opment in  the  modern  age  ? 

In  name  the  deaconess  is  not  now  to  be  found  in  either  the 
Eastern  or  the  Roman  Church,'  But  the  most  essential  features 
of  her  office  have  been  reproduced  in  the  Roman  Catholic  order 
of  Sisters  of  Charity. 

The  founder  of  this  order  was  Vincent  de  Paul.  When  in 
charge  of  a  little  parish  at  Chatillon,  France,  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  he  was  requested,  on  entering  the  pulpit  one 
Sunday,  to  commend  a  poor  family  to  the  attention  of  the  con- 
gregation. Complying  with'  this  request,  he  made  so  strong  an 
appeal  in  their  behalf  that  the  family  soon  received  baskets  of 
provisions  greatly  in  excess  of  their  needs.  Vincent  had  the 
instinct  and  idea  of  organization.  He  saw  that  in  order  to  make 
the  charity  of  the  people  effectual  it  must  be  systematized.  Ac- 
cordingly he  called  a  meeting  of  the  ladies  of  the  congregation, 
•  laid  the  case  before  them,  and  organized  a  society,  which  he 
called  "Ladies  of  Charity,"  for  regulated  ministry  to  the  poor. 
They  must  dress  in  a  simple  style  for  their  visits,  must  be  verv 
attentive  and  forbearing,  and  must  minister  to  the  soul  as  well 
as  to  the  body. 

The  society  increased  in  numbers,  and  ere  long  it  might  be 
found,  here  and  there,  throughout  France.  Its  real  success, 
however,  did  not  keep  pace  with  its  numerical  growth.  For  it 
was  made  up  of  married  women  with  household  cares  of  their 
own.     Many  of  them  also  were  debilitated  by  the  enervating 

'The  only  exception  to  this  assertion,  I  think,  is  the  use  of  the  name  for 
certain  officers  in  Greek  convents. 


190  Christianity  as  Organised 

atmosphere  of  the  fashionable  world.  So  they  soon  grew  weary 
of  personal  visits  to  the  sick  and  the  poor,  and  sent  their  servants 
instead. 

But  there  was  one  notable  exception.  Madame  Louise  le  Gras 
(nee  de  Merillac),  a  young  widow  of  noble  birth,  became  a 
member  of  the  organization  and  devoted  herself  to  its  interests 
with  untiring  fidelity.  In  cooperation  with  this  single-minded 
Christian  woman,  Vincent  gathered  together  in  the  cit}^  of  Paris 
a  company  of  young  women  unencumbered  with  family  duties 
and  cares,  who  would  be  willing  to  become  in  a  real  sense  care- 
takers of  the  poor.  They  were  themselves,  for  the  most  part, 
country  girls.  In  the  month  of  November,  1633,  a  training 
school,  with  only  three  or  four  in  attendance,  was  established  for 
their  benefit ;  and  they  began  to  live  in  community.  In  this  same 
year  they  were  raised  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  into  a  distinct 
order,  which  was  afterwards  officially  recognized  by  Pope  Clem- 
ent IX.^ 

At  first  they  had  no  written  rules  and  took  no  vows.  After 
a  few  years,  however,  they  were  permitted  to  take  vows  that 
obligated  them  to  service  in  the  society  for  one  year  at  a  time. 
They  were  now  called  not  "Ladies"  but  ^^Sistcrs  of  Charity;" 
and  it  is  by  this  name  that  they  are  known  throughout  the  civi- 
lized world.'' 

The  order  is  under  the  government  of  a  successor  of  Vincent 
— namely,  the  Superior  General — and,  next  to  him  in  authority, 
the  Mother  General,  who  is  elected  triennially.  Each  separate 
society,  or  "congregation,"  is  governed  by  a  Sister  Superior, 
who  is  elected  by  its  members,  and  is  eligible  to  one  reelection, 
but  no  more. 

The  rules  of  the  order,  it  seems,  have  remained  almost  entire- 
ly the  same  as  when  first  given  by  the  founder  himself.  The 
Sisters  are  not  nuns.     "The  streets  of  the  city  or  the  houses  of 

^Maloy,  "Life  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  chaps,  iv.,  viii.,  x. 
''This  is  the  name  by  which  they  are  commonly  called.     But  their  official 
title  is  even  more  beautiful — "Daughters  of  Christian  Love." 


Service:  The  Deaconess  191 

the  sick,"  said  Vincent  in  his  instructions  to  them,  "shall  be  your 
cells,  obedience  your  solitude,  the  fear  of  God  your  grating,  a 
strict  and  holy  modesty  your  only  veil."  Yet  they  are  formed 
into  communities,  and  are  eligible  for  admission  into  the  order 
only  after  a  probation  of  five  years.  It  is  expected  that  on  en- 
tering they  shall  become  life  members.  But  their  vows — the 
fourfold  vow  of  poverty,  chastity,  obedience,  and  service  to  the 
poor — are  made  for  one  year  only,  and  the  renewal  of  them  is 
voluntary  from  year  to  year. 

Their  distinctive  garb  has  been  chosen  in  imitation  of  the 
costume  of  the  peasant  women  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  at 
the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  order — just  as  the  habit  of  the 
Franciscan  friars  is  that  of  the  Italian  beggars  of  Francis'  day. 
The  headdress  was  originally  a  small  linen  cap;  but  ere  long 
there  was  added  to  it  the  pure  and  white,  though  grotesque,  cor- 
nette. 

The  rule  of  life  is  extremely  rigid.  The  Sisters  must  rise  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  then  engage  in  a  meditation 
and  attend  Mass.  There  is  also  to  be  a  particular  examination 
of  conscience  at  noon  and  another  in  the  evening.  No  prescribed 
devotional  service,  or  office,  is  required  of  them.  "Your  office," 
said  their  founder,  "is  charity."  They  must  be  very  abstemious 
in  their  diet ;  must  cultivate  no  intimate  friendships,  either  with- 
out or  within  the  order;  must  not  ask  to  choose  their  own  field 
of  labor,  but  receive  their  appointments  from  the  Sister  Superior 
to  such  work  as  she  may  deem  most  suitable;  must  not  refuse 
to  do  any  prescribed  service,  however  loathsome  or  dangerous. 
The  range  of  their  ministrations  includes  the  hospital,  the  orphan 
asylum,  the  elementary  school,  the  homes  of  the  sick  and  the 
poor — their  wards  alike  the  motherless  child  and  the  dying  sol- 
dier.' 

It  need  hardly  be  added  that  the  praise  of  these  ministering 
"daughters  of  Christian  love"  is  on  the  lips  of  many  grateful 
or  sympathetic  witnesses  in  all  lands.     They  have  stronglv  com- 

'"The  Catholic  Encyclopedia,"  Vol.  III.,  Art.  "Sisters  of  Charity." 


192  Christianity  as  Organised 

mended  to  the  world  not  only  the  sadly  mixed  form  of  Chris- 
tianity which  they  immediately  represent,  but  also  that  truest 
source  of  their  inspiration,  the  Christ  who  lived  and  died  for 
"the  healing  of  the  nations."^ 

But  sisterhoods  have  not  been  confined  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 
nor  yet  to  the  Church  of  the  East  where  they  have  found  a  cer- 
tain development."  Since  the  year  1845  ^^''^Y  ^'^^^'^  been  estab- 
lished under  various  forms  of  organization  in  the  Church  of 
England  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Here  they  are 
pursuing,  with  more  or  less  of  Christian  wisdom,  their  common 
objects  of  piety  and  beneficent  ministration.  In  England  they 
have  multiplied  considerably  of  late  years,  and  in  some  instances 
have  shown  strong  conventual  tendencies.* 

5.  Revival  of  the  Idea  in  the  Modern  Deaconess. 

But  the  Sister  is  not  a  deaconess.  The  two  are  only  similar, 
not  the  same.  One  difference  is,  that  the  sisterhood  emphasizes 
the  idea  of  seclusion  from  the  world,  inclining  toward  the  mo- 
nastic perversion  of  Christianity;  while  the  woman's  diaconate 
emphasizes  the  idea  of  active  service.  The  Sister  would  live  a 
life  of  prayer  and  intercession  in  her  religious  retreat,  coming 
forth,  however,  with  faithful  regularity,  to  do  a  work  of  mercy 
in  the  busy  and  suffering  world ;  the  deaconess,  like  the  Christian 

^"Besides  this  most  prominent,  and  perhaps  most  worthy,  sisterhood  in 
the  Church  of  Rome,  there  are  others  whose  combined  membership,  it  seems, 
about  equals  that  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity;  such,  for  example,  as  the  Sis- 
ters of  Mercy,  who  make  irrevocable  vows,  take  the  white  veil,  and  devote 
their  lives  to  suffering  and  tempted  women."  (Bancroft  [Mrs.  J.  B.  Robin- 
son], "Deaconesses  in  Europe,"  p.  248.) 

""Communities  have  been  formed  specially  for  the  care  of  the  poor  and 
infirm,  and  Russia  is  proud  of  her  Sisters  of  Charity.  .  .  .  The  sisters 
are  not  generally  regarded  as  nuns.  They  take  no  vows,  they  have  no 
statutes  or  regulations  specially  sanctioned  by  the  Church  authorities." 
(Leroy-Beaulieu,  "The  Empire  of  the  Tsars,"  p.  219  ff.  See  also  Potter, 
"Sisterhoods  and  Deaconesses,"  p.  345  ff) 

^A  small  Anglican  sisterhood  at  St.  Katherine's,  London,  and  another, 
the  Sisters  of  the  Atonement,  in  this  country,  have  recently  gone  over  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 


Service:  The  Deaconess  193 

preacher  or  pastor,  would  live  a  life  of  constant  ministration  to 
the  people,  gathering  strength  for  her  labors  in  retirement  and 
prayer. 

The  other  chief  difference  is  in  the  matter  of  organization. 
The  sisterhood  is  only  permitted  by  the  Church,  and  it  renders 
services  at  its  own  will ;  the  woman's  diaconate  is,  like  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  or  the  superintendency  of  a  Sunday  school, 
under  the  government  and  at  the  command  of  the  Church — a 
part  of  its  regular  "machinery."  As  might  be  expected,  there- 
fore, the  Sister  must  live  in  community,  while  the  deaconess 
may  or  may  not.* 

It  is  the  office  of  the  modern  deaconess,  which  can  be  found 
nowhere  save  in  the  churches  of  Protestantism,  that  shall  now 
engage  our  attention.  It  began  in  weakness,  in  a  veritable  day 
of  small  things.  But  on  that  account  its  history  may  be  all  the 
worthier  of  note. 

A  foretoken  of  the  office  appears  even  in  the  earlier  years  of 
the  Reformation — namely,  among  the  Mennonites"  and  the  Puri- 
tans.* 

Another  trace  of  the  office  and  work  of  the  deaconess  may  be 
seen  at  the  rise  of  Independency,  or  Congregationalism,  in  the 
last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Robert  Browne,  its  first 
organizer,  included  among  the  officers  of  a  scripturally  consti- 
tuted church,  not  only  deacons,  "which  are  to  gather  and  bestowe 
the  church  liberalitie,"  but  also  "Widowes,  which  are  to  pray  for 

*"The  Sisters  of  the  Poor,"  a  society  of  Christian  nurses  and  evangelistic 
workers,  organized  by  Hugh  Price  Hughes  in  connection  with  the  Wesleyan 
Forward  Movement,  must  not  be  taken  as  a  representative  sisterhood.  It 
is  in  all  but  the  name  a  society  of  deaconesses. 

^McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopedia,  Art.  "Deaconess ;"  Mrs.  J.  B.  Rob- 
inson, "Deaconesses  in  Europe,"  p.  44. 

^Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  an  assembly  of  sixty  Puritan 
ministers,  in  a  declaration  of  rules  and  principles  through  which  they  hoped 
to  reform  the  Church,  gave  directions  concerning  the  choice  of  "deacons  of 
both  sorts — namely,  men  and  women."  (Neal,  "History  of  Puritans,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.   140.) 

13 


194  CJiristianity  as  Organized 

the  church,  with  attendance  to  the  sicke  and  afflicted  thereof."^ 
The  word  \A'idow  he  uses  undoubtedly  as  a  New  Testament 
name  for  deaconess."  There  is  also  evidence  that  in  some  in- 
stances this  woman's  diaconate  was  actually  instituted,  and  suit- 
able persons  elected  to  fill  it,  in  the  Independent  congregations. 
But  it  did  not  become  general,  and  was  not  perpetuated. 

Of  similar  significance  was  the  appointment  of  deaconesses 
by  John  Wesley  when  (in  1836-38)  a  missionary  of  the  Church 
of  England,  in  Savannah,  Georgia.  It  was  one  of  the  instances 
in  which  this  cjuick-sighted  organizer  showed  so  true  a  vocation 
to  regain  whatever  was  best  in  the  lost  institutions  and  spirit  of 
primitive  Christianity.  But  it  was  also  one  of  the  grounds  on 
which  his  opponents  charged  him  with  Romanism.'' 

It  was  not.  however,  till  the  lapse  of  a  century  from  this  time 
that  the  modern  deaconess  movement  made  its  real  and  effective 
beginning.  For  as  the  Sunday  school,  to  cite  a  somewhat  anal- 
ogous instance,  finds  the  work  of  Robert  Raikes  in  1781,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  of  similar  schools  before  that  time,  the 
starting  point  of  its  subsequent  organized  and  continuous  de- 
velopment, so  the  institution  of  modern  deaconesses  finds  its 
starting  point  in  the  work  of  Theodor  Fliedner  in  1836. 

Fliedner  was  the  Lutheran  pastor  of  the  village  of  Kaiser- 
werth-on-the-Rhine.  Only  a  few  months  after  his  coming,  in 
the  year  1822,  to  this  obscure  village,  his  congregation  of  work- 
people, small  at  best,  seemed  well-nigh  on  the  point  of  dispersion. 
For  a  silk  manufactory,  on  which  many  of  them  were  dependent 
for  a  living,  had  failed ;  and  they  must  go  where  they  could  to 
get  employment.    Under  the  pressure  of  these  conditions,  Flied- 

'Robert  Browne's  Book,  cited  in  Walker's  "Creeds  and  Platforms  of 
Congregationalism,"  p.  22. 

"Cf.  the  following  declaration  of  Congregational  principles : 

"The  Lord  hath  appointed  ancient  widows  (i  Tim.  v.  9,  10),  where  they 
may  be  had,  to  minister  in  the  church,  in  giving  attendance  to  the  sick,  and 
to  give  succor  unto  them,  and  others  in  the  like  necessities."  (Cambridge 
Platform  (1648),  VII.  7-) 

^Tyerman,  "Life  of  Wesley,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  147,  148. 


Service:  The  Deaconess  195 

ner  started  on  a  nine  months'  tour,  to  raise  money  for  llie  en- 
dowment of  his  churcli.  And  it  was  a  journey  more  fruitful  of 
good  results  than  either  he  or  any  one  else  could  have  predicted. 
He  found  immense  riches  which  he  had  not  gone  forth  to  seek. 

In  Holland  and  England  especially  the  earnest  and  unpre- 
tending young  pastor  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  benevolent 
institutions  that  came  under  his  notice.  "In  both  these  Protestant 
countries,"  he  says,  "I  became  acquainted  with  a  number  of  char- 
itable institutions  for  the  benefit  of  both  body  and  soul. 
At  the  same  time  I  observed  that  it  was  a  living  faith  in  Christ 
which  had  called  almost  every  one  of  these  institutions  and  soci- 
eties into  life,  and  still  preserved  them  in  activity.  This  evidence 
of  the  practical  power  and  fertility  of  such  a  principle  had  a  most 
powerful  influence  in  strengthening  my  own  faith,  as  yet  weak."^ 

One  form  of  benevolent  service  more  particularly  touched  his 
heart.  The  prisons  of  both  England  and  the  Continent  of  that 
day  were  indescribably  unwholesome,  filthy,  and  immoral.  Of  ec- 
clesiasticism  there  seems  to  have  been  an  adequate  amount  every- 
where ;  of  enlightened  practical  pity  for  the  criminal,  almost  none. 

Elisabeth  Fry,  though  only  a  Friend,  was  in  the  midst  of  her 
reformatory  undertakings  in  the  prisons.  Fliedner  met  her  in 
London  and  became  intensely  interested  in  the  work  she  was 
doing.  On  his  return  to  Kaiserwerth  he  succeeded  in  having  a 
society  formed  in  aid  of  prisoners  in  Germany.  In  1832  he  was 
sent  by  the  government  as  a  commissioner  to  incjuire  into  the 
workings  of  charitable  institutions  in  England.  Here  he  again 
met  with  Elisabeth  Fry ;  and  on  a  visit  to  Scotland  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers,  who  warmly  sympa- 
thized with  his  ideals. 

In  September,  1833,  a  discharged  woman  convict,  having 
heard  of  Fliedner's  sympathy  with  her  class,  appeared  at  his 
door,  after  a  six  miles'  walk,  seeking  help.  A  home  was  given 
her  in  his  summer  house.  Afterwards  a  larger  house  was  rent- 
ed, and  its  doors  opened  as  a  home  for  discharged  women  con- 

'Mrs.  J.  B.  Robinson,  "Deaconesses  in  Europe,"  p.  54. 


ig6  Christianity  as  Organised 

victs.  But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  those  who  should  have 
the  care  of  such  outcasts,  as  well  as  of  the  sick  and  helpless  poor, 
who  were  all  so  much  in  need  of  Christian  sympathy  and  service, 
must  be  properly  trained  for  their  work.  Accordingly,  in  May 
of  the  year  1836,  Fliedner,  with  some  others,  drew  up  a  set  of 
statutes  for  a  society  to  be  called  "The  Rhenish  Westphalian 
Deaconess  Society."  In  October  of  that  year  he  opened  a  Chris- 
tian hospital,  and  in  the  same  building  a  training  school  for  dea- 
conesses. And  thus  arose  the  Mother  House  of  all  the  mother' 
houses  and  other  Kaiserwerth  institutions  in  Europe,  Asia,  and 
America. 

The  house  was  unpaid  for.  The  outfit  consisted  of  a  very  lit- 
tle furniture,  most  of  it  rickety,  worm-eaten,  or  otherwise  dam- 
aged. Fliedner's  wife — his  worthiest  and  most  inspiring  cola- 
borer — was  its  first  superintendent;  a  physician's  daughter,  Ger- 
trude Reichard,  its  first  deaconess;  a  servant  girl,  its  first  pa- 
tient. 

About  this  Mother  House  there  grew  up  from  time  to  time 
schools  for  teachers,  an  orphan  asylum,  a  dispensary,  an  insane 
asylum,  a  manual  labor  school,  a  publishing  house,  a  rest  cot- 
tage in  the  neighboring  hills,  and  the  House  of  Evening  Rest 
(Feierabend  Hans)  for  deaconesses  worn  out  in  the  service.  All 
these  in  the  lifetime  of  the  founder. 

Indeed,  such  had  been  the  enlargement  of  the  work  that  by  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1864,  the  number  of  mother  houses  was 
thirty,  of  places  of  work  nearly  four  hundred,  and  of  deaconesses 
fifteen  hundred.  Twenty-four  years  afterwards  the  mother 
houses  numbered  fifty-seven,  the  places  of  work  over  two  thou- 
sand, and  the  deaconesses  over  seven  thousand.^ 

Nor  is  this  the  whole  institutional  outcome.  For  through  Kai- 
serwerth's  great  example  the  founding  of  other  deaconess  insti- 
tutions has  been  promoted  in  the  Christian  churches  and  even 
unto  far-away  lands.     And  the  motto  on  the  seal  of  the  little 

^Mrs.  J.  B.  Robinson,  "Deaconesses  in  Europe,"  cited  from  the  Kaiser- 
werth magazine,  Dcr  Arinev  und  Kranken  Freund  (1888'),  pp.  86,  87. 


Service:  The  Deaconess  197 

church  in  Kaiserwerth  finds  an  ever-enlarging  fulfillment:  "The 
mustard  seed  has  become  a  tree." 

The  Kaiserwerth  institution  would  seem,  in  fact,  to  be  the 
model  which  the  later  deaconess  institutions  have  more  or  less 
closely  followed.  It  may  be  worth  while,  then,  to  ask,  What  are 
some  of  its  constitutional  regulations? 

All  the  mother  houses  (whether  in  Europe  or  America,  Berlin  or  Balti- 
more)  are  under  the  government  of  a  triennial  General  Conference. 

Each  mother  house  is  under  the  immediate  control  of  two  Directors. 
These  are  the  Inspector  (or  Superintendent),  who  must  be  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  Sister  Superior,  who  is  matron  of  the  house.  But  the 
Directors  are  themselves  responsible  to  a  Board  of  Management. 

For  each  deaconess  there  is  a  period  of  probation ;  a  service  of  conse- 
cration to  her  office ;  a  uniform  dress ;  and  maintenance,  but  nothing  more, 
in  sickness. 

The  probation  having  been  passed  satisfactorily,  she  must  pledge  herself 
to  a  five  years'  term  of  service.  At  the  end  of  this  time  the  pledge  may  be 
renewed. 

If  a  deaconess  decide  to  marry,  or  if  her  parents  or  guardians  demand 
her  withdrawal  from  the  institution  in  order  that  she  may  care  for  them, 
she  is  entitled  to  an  honorable  dismission. 

Deaconesses  are  sent  out  from  the  mother  house  to  their  various  places 
of  work — "stations,"  as  they  are  technically  called — under  the  direction  of 
the  Sister  Superior,  and  if  possible  never  alone. 

The  mother  houses  interchange  their  annual  reports,  and  hold  prayer 
meetings,  the  "common"  prayer  meeting,  all  at  the  same  time — namely,  the 
first  of  each  month  of  the  year.^ 

About  two-thirds  of  the  expenses  of  the  Kaiserwerth  institu- 
tions are  met  by  payments  for  services  rendered  by  the  dea- 
conesses; and  the  remainder  by  contributions  of  auxiliary  soci- 
eties, churches,  and  private  individuals. 

Among  the  pupils  of  Fliedner,  in  the  year  1851,  was  a  cul- 
tured young  English  woman.  Already  had  she  become  inter- 
ested, partly  through  the  influence  of  Elisabeth  Fry,  in  the  in- 
structed nursing  of  the  sick.  She  would  fain  see  an  improve- 
ment in  the  ill-kept  English  hospitals  of  the  day.     It  was  this 

^Constitution  of  the  Deaconess  Mother  Houses  connected  with  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  Kaiserwerth  (1901),  given  in  Colder,  "History  of  the 
Deaconess  Movement,"  Appendix. 


198  Christianity  as  Organized 

that  awoke  the  desire  to  go,  as  a  student  of  nurshig,  to  Kaiser- 
werth.  "Never  have  I  seen  a  higher  love,"  she  wrote  long  after- 
wards, "a  purer  devotion,  than  there." 

During  the  Crimean  War  the  piteous  cry  of  uncared-for  suf- 
ferers drew  this  strong-hearted  Christian  woman,  at  the  risk  of 
her  life  and  the  loss  of  her  health,  to  the  military  hospital  at 
Scutari.  She  found  it  a  house  of  neglect  and  misery  inde- 
scribable; but  under  her  organizing  skill  and  tireless  personal 
ministrations,  as  lady-in-chief  of  a  force  of  eighty-eight  woman 
nurses,  it  was  transformed  into  a  genuine  home  for  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  Two  little  books  have  come  from  her  pen — • 
one  concerning  Kaiserwerth,  the  other  "Notes  on  Nursing."  And 
in  the  whole  sisterhood  of  ministering  women  of  the  hospital, 
no  name  would  be  sooner  mentioned,  as  a  synonym  of  enlight- 
ened and  influential  goodness,  than  that  of  the  "angel  of  the 
Crimea,"  Florence  Nightingale. 

It  is  a  single  though  eminent  example  of  the  wide-reaching 
usefulness  of  the  House  of  Deaconesses  at  Kaiserwerth-on-the- 
Rhine. 

6.  In  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  To-Day. 

In  nearly  all  the  evangelical  churches  of  to-day — in  the  Lu- 
theran, the  Moravian,  the  Reformed,  the  Anglican,  the  Scotch, 
the  Methodist,  the  Congregationalist,  and  others — the  woman's 
diaconate  either  has  become  or  is  becoming  a  well-established  in- 
stitution. Its  form  of  organization,  generally  speaking,  may  be 
indicated  as  follows:  Deaconesses  for  the  most  part  must  have 
a  Home  together  \  unmarried  women  only  are  admitted  to  mem- 
bership ;  they  must  pass  through  a  preparatory  course  of  training ; 
no  vow  of  perpetual  service  is  required ;  a  simple,  distinctive  cos- 
tume is  worn;  affiliation  with  relatives  and  friends  is  not  for- 

^"Each  Deaconess  not  in  a  Home  shall  be  under  the  direction  of  the 
Pastor  of  the  church  or  officers  of  the  society  or  institution  in  which  she  is 
at  work;  but  those  who  are  members  of  a  Home  shall  be  subordinate  to  and 
directed  by  the  Superintendent  in  charge."  ("Discipline  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church")    (i904'>- 


Service:  The  Deaconess  199 

bidden ;  a  suitable  support  is  provided  both  for  the  time  of  ac- 
tive service  and  of  disabihty;  the  service  is  that  of  caring  for  the 
poor  and  the  sick,  teaching  and  training  the  young,  and  reform- 
ing the  immoral. 

And  now  shall  we  judge  this  ministry  of  women,  both  as  to 
Tightness  and  expediency,  from  a  few  commanding  points  of 
view  ? 

(i)  Its  central  idea.  Personal  service,  without  publicity,  not 
for  but  to  the  needy  and  the  suffering,  face  to  face — such  is  the 
formative  principle  of  the  deaconess'  office.  There  are  men  and 
women  who  seek  to  rule.  Some  are  Christian  men  and  women. 
But  great  is  the  danger  that  these  shall  become  deceivers  of 
themselves  and  disturbers  of  the  Church.  There  are  men  and 
women  who  seek  to  serve.  Great  is  the  promise  that  these  shall 
becouTe  the  true  "apostles  of  the  churches  and  the  glory  of 
Christ."  Better  than  all  romance  or  passion  for  poetic  beauty 
is  courageous  love  in  homely  and  loathsome  places.  It  calls  hour 
by  hour  for  that  which  is  most  heroic,  even  the  giving  of  a  self. 
It  was  the  Highest  and  Mightiest  who  "went  about  doing  good." 

In  the  consecration  service  of  the  Kaiserwerth  deaconesses  is 
the  charge:  "You  are  servants  in  a  threefold  sense;  servants  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  servants  of  the  needy  for  Jesus'  sake,  servants 
of  one  another." 

(2)  Its  scriptural  precedents.  It  has  not  been  satisfactorily 
shown  that  the  deaconess,  like  the  deacon,  was  a  recognized 
ofifice-bearer  in  the  apostolic  churches.  The  passages  supposed 
by  some  to  prove  it  are  unable  to  bear  the  strain  of  inference 
that  has  been  put  upon  them. 

Phoebe  of  Cenchrese  may  well  have  been  a  "servant"  (8ta/<ovos) 
of  the  Church,  in  the  non-oflicial  sense  of  that  word — just  as 
she  was  a  "succourer"  (irpooTaTis,  protectress,  patroness)  of  the 
apostle  Paul  and  of  many  others.' 

The  enrolled  "widows"  concerning  whom  directions  were 
given  to  Timothy,  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Ephesus,  were  evi- 

^Rom.  xvi.   I,  2. 


200  Christianity  as  Organised 

dently  aged  and  worthy  beneficiaries  rather  than  organized  min- 
istrants  of  the  Church.' 

The  name  "women"  (ywaiKas,  A.  V.  "wives")  in  i  Timothy  iii. 
II,  may  be  understood  to  mean  either  wives  of  deacons  or  offi- 
cial deaconesses.  But  if  the  former  be  taken  as  the  meaning, 
the  fact  that  no  quahfications  for  the  wives  of  bishops  are  given 
remains  to  be  accounted  for ;  and  if  the  latter,  the  fact  that  sim- 
ply the  word  "women"  or  "wives,"  with  no  indication  of  their 
occupying  an  official  position,  is  left  unexplained.  So  the  case 
is  doubtful." 

It  is  quite  certain,  however,  that  of  unofficial  deaconesses  there 
were  not  a  few  in  the  days  of  Jesus  and  the  Apostles.  For 
Christ  had  put  honor  upon  woman  and  had  made  possible  to 
her  a  ministry  of  Christian  love,  such  as  had  never  before  glori- 
fied her  life.''  When,  therefore,  in  the  post-apostolic  age,  Chris- 
tianity went  on  to  develop  and  perfect  its  organization,  and  the 
conditions  of  the  time  created  a  special  demand  for  such  serv- 
ices as  woman  could  offer,  it  is  no  surprising  thing  that  her 
ministrations  should  have  taken  some  organized,  or  regulated, 
form. 

It  was  an  institutional  expression  of  the  same  spirit  that 
prompted  the  women  of  Galilee  to  "minister  of  their  substance" 
to  the  Master  who  had"  won  their  hearts'  devotion,*  and  Dorcas 
to  make  garments  for  the  poor,  and  Lydia  to  constrain  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  gospel  to  have  their  home  in  Philippi  at  her 
house,^  and  Phoebe  to  be  a  resourceful  helper  of  many,  and  Pris- 
cilla  carefully  to  teach  the  "way  of  God,"^  and  Mary  of  Ronie"^  to 

'i  Tim.  V.  9,  10,  1 6. 

^Dean  Howson  has  said :  "It  appears  to  me  that  if  we  take  our  stand 
simply  on  the  ground  of  the  New  Testament,  the  argument  for  the  recog- 
nition of  Deaconesses  as  a  part  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  as  strong  as 
the  argument  for  episcopacy."  (Cecilia  Robinson,  "The  Ministry  of  Dea- 
conesses," p.  15.)  It  may  be  so;  but  neither  the  ministry  of  deaconesses 
nor  that  of  bishops,  as  now  existing,  can  find  its  form  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

"John  iv.  27;  xvi.  17;  Acts  i.  14;  ii.  17,  18.  *Luke  viii.  3. 

^Acts  xvi.  14,  IS,  40.  *Acts  xviii.  26.  ''Rom.  xvi.  6. 


Service:  The  Deaconess  201 

bestow  much  labor  there,  and  Trypha^na,  Tryphosa,  and  "Persis 
the  beloved,"  to  "labor  in  the  Lord,'"  and  the  household  of 
Stephanas  to  "set  themselves  to  minister  («s  StaKovt'av)  unto  the 
saints."^ 

We  may  even  go  back  to  an  older  and  less  Christian  time  for 
an  example  of  such  a  ministry.  For  the  ideal  home-maker  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  a  ministering  woman : 

She  spreadeth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor ; 

Yea,  she  reacheth  forth  her  hands  to  the  needy.     .    .    . 

She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom ; 

And  the  law  of  kindness  is  on  her  tongue.' 

(3)  Its  cconoiiuc  aim.  "There  is  not  in  the  world  at  this 
moment,"  says  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  "so  costly  and  so  utter  a 
waste  product  as  our  average  young  lady — the  daintiest  bit  of 
mechanism  in  the  round  world — cultured,  dowered  with  love 
and  enthusiasm  and  devotion,  and  courage  too,  yet  mostly 
wasted,  life  mainly  a  thing  of  afternoon  tea."  Shall  the  "waste 
product"  of  this  pungent  criticism  appear  in  the  Chiuxh  as 
well  as  in  the  family?  Woman  is  not  for  dollhood.  She  is  no 
more  to  be  flattered  into  an  idle  passivity  than  to  be  degraded 
into  a  drudge.  Let  her  distinctive  powers  be  employed,  in  in- 
dividual acts  and  habits  indeed,  but  also  through  organization, 
for  Christian  service. 

Organization  in  any  social  sphere  is  for  the  avoidance  of 
waste  and  the  increase  of  power.  It  is  to  interrelate  unguided 
forces,  so  as  to  make  regular  and  perpetual  that  which  might 

^Rom.  xvi.  12. 

^i  Cor.  xvi.  15. 

"It  was  women  such  as  Phoebe  and  Priscilla  who  created  the  idea  of  the 
female  diaconate.  Whether  or  no  they  received  the  name  as  an  official  title 
matters  but  little ;  they  certainly  'executed  the  office'  of  a  Deaconess,  and 
bore  splendid  testimony  to  the  value  of  a  ministry  of  women.  When  the  time 
for  definite  ecclesiastical  organization  came,  the  work  of  women  had  become 
a  necessity  to  the  Church,  and  they  received  at  once  [hardly  at  oncel  their 
place  in  her  ordered  ministry."  (Cecilia  Robinson,  "Ministry  of  Deacon- 
esses," p.  12.) 

^Prov.  xxxi.  20,  26. 


202  Christianity  as  Organised 

otherwise  prove  to  be  spasmodic  and  transient.  Is  the  principle 
famiHar  even  to  triteness?  Equally  so  should  be  the  fact  of  its 
complete  application  to  woman's  work  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Throughout  the  Church  are  women  whose  life  is  without  the 
inner  peace  and  outward  efficiency  which  come  through  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  recognized  vocation.  Yet  many  of  them  would 
find  joy  in  a  ministry  to  the  poor,  the  untaught,  the  sorrowful. 
And  the  Church  may  open  to  them — as  in  the  similar  case  of 
men  who  believe  themselves  called  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
— the  door  of  opportunity.  It  may  offer  them  a  home,  food  and 
raiment,  companionship,  direction,  equipment,  organization,  the 
stimulus  and  support  of  a  sisterhood  of  fellow-workers,  with 
much  trying  self-denial  in  a  noble  and  beautiful  work.  The 
Church  would  not  hesitate  to  commission  and  trust  them  as  mis- 
sionaries abroad.  It  would  send  them  there  as  teachers,  nurses, 
physicians,  Bible  readers,  organized  woman  workers  in  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus.  But  to  set  them  apart  for  similar  work  at  home 
is  equally  an  economy  of  both  active  and  latent  spiritual  forces. 

Among  other  indirect  benefits,  w^ould  it  not  help  to  make  it 
known  to  all  the  people,  in  this  age  of  social  and  industrial  un- 
rest, that  the  Church,  like  her  Lord,  is  among  them  "as  one  that 
serveth?" 

(4)  Its  fruits.  The  divine  test,  here  as  everywhere,  must  be 
applied.  "xA.nd  let  her  works  praise  her" — as  undoubtedly  they 
are  doing — "in  the  gates." 


VI. 

AUTHORITATIVE  SUPERVISION:  THE  PRESBYTER 
—HIS  EARLIER  OFFICE. 

The  fact  that  the  end  of  office  is  service  does  not  disparage 
official  oversight  and  authority.  For  these  are  themselves  means 
of  service — often  the  most  difficult  and  the  most  fruitful  of  all. 
Imagine  them  discontinued  from  henceforth !  "Our  authority," 
says  the  chief  pastor  of  the  Corinthians,  "which  the  Lord  gave 
for  building  you  up  and  not  for  casting  you  down."^  Could  there 
be  a  truer  service  than  edification? 

I.  Non-Official  Oversight  Made  Official. 

There  is,  to  begin  with,  a  non-official  oversight  and  a  non- 
official  authority.  In  the  purely  private  and  personal  relations 
of  life  one  person  may  not  only  exercise  watch-care  over  an- 
other, but  may  sometimes  speak  with  an  authoritative  voice. 
"Full  of  goodness,  filled  with  all  knowledge,"  says  the  same  chief 
pastor  writing  to  the  Romans,  "able  also  to  admonish  one  an- 
other;"' and  in  admonition  there  is  a  certain  power  of  com- 
mand, silent  rather  than  expressed,  that  calls  for  obedience.  "Ye 
younger,"  says  another  Apostle,  "be  subject  unto  the  elder,"* 
Knowledge,  wisdom,  experience,  character,  age  exert  an  au- 
thority, for  the  most  part  unconscions,  oyer  both  belief  and 
practice.  "Be  obedient,"  says  even  the  great  officialist,  Ignatius 
of  Antioch,  "to     .     .     .     one  another."* 

But  this  diffused  oversight  and  authority  must  be  concen- 
trated. The  few  must  act  for  the  many.  It  has  to  be  made  the 
special  business  of  some  to  oversee  and  rule,  according  to  rec- 
ognized divine  laws  of  social  conduct — always,  let  it  be  remem- 

^2  Cor.  X.  8.  -Rom.  xv.  14.  'i  Pet.  v.  5. 

*"To  Magnesians,"  13.  So  likewise  "Clement  to  the  Corinthians,"  38:  "Let 
every  one  be  subject  to  his  neighbor,  according  to  the  gift  bestowed  upon 
him." 

(203) 


204  Christianity  as  Organised 

bered,  for  the  good  of  the  ruled  and  not  for  the  exaltation  or 
aggrandizement  of  the  rulers.  Hence  arises  over  all  the  inhabited 
earth  governmental  authority.  The  shipwrecked  sailor  on  the 
sultriest  island  of  the  tropical  seas  or  the  farthest  shore  of  the 
ice-bound  North,  will  find  it  there.  It  is  a  differentiation  of 
function  cjuite  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  human  society. 
It  is  an  ordinance  of  God.  Anarchy's  wild  and  wicked  dream 
has  no  standing  ground  in  reason  or  reality. 

Nor  can  it  be  asserted  that  this  order  of  society  as  higher  and 
lower,  ruling  and  ruled,  is  due  to  the  imperfections  of  flesh  and 
blood.  Why  should  it  not  obtain  in  the  most  exalted  spheres 
of  being?  For  the  eternal  principle  and  source  of  government  is 
in  God  himself.  The  Creator  has  supremacy  over  the  created, 
from  the  lowliest  to  the  loftiest.  Who  is  lofty  as  compared  with 
him?  "Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven  so  on  earth."  But  it  is 
God's  good  pleasure  to  enforce  mediately  as  well  as  immediately 
the  doing  of  his  will.  So  his  authority  is,  in  various  instances, 
put  forth  through  personal  representatives :  ''There  is  no  power 
\_i$ovcria,  authority]  but  of  God.  .  .  .  He  [the  civil  ruler] 
is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.^  May  this,  then,  not  be 
as  on  earth  so  in  heaven f  In  fact,  the  Scripture  representations 
of  the  heavenly  life  indicate  that  it  is  so.  There  are  angels  and 
archangels  in  the  beatific  world.  There  are  thrones,  dominions, 
principalities,  authorities,  powers,  "invisible"  as  well  as  "visi- 
ble."' 

It  is  a  beautiful  story  that  is  told  by  his  biographer  of  the  last 
hours  of  Richard  Hooker.  In  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  a  confi- 
dential friend  as  to  what  had  been  the  direction  of  his  thoughts 
he  said :  "I  have  been  meditating  the  number  and  nature  of 
angels,  and  their  blessed  order  and  obedience,  without  which 
peace  could  not  be  in  heaven;  and  oh,  that  it  might  be  so  on 
earth."  Hooker  was  a  lover  of  law.  Most  reverently  did  he 
seek  it  out  and  set  it  forth.  True,  he  had  not  found  in  his  la- 
borious researches  any  fixed  form  of  church  government  in  the 

^Rom.  xiii.   I,  4.  '^Col.  i.   16;   1   Pet.  iii.  22. 


Oversight:  Presbyter — Early  Office  205 

New  Testament ;  but  there,  as  well  as  in  the  natural  creation  and 
in  human  history,  he  had  found  the  immutable  principles  of  gov- 
ernment as  a  sublime  expression  of  the  Divine  Nature  itself. 
That  had  filled  his  imagination  and  satisfied  his  reason  with  an 
indescribable  joy.  His  erudite  argument  kindled  into  a  very 
song  of  the  heart  before  the  vision  of  the  universal  supremacy 
of  Law :  "All  things  in  heaven  and  earth  do  her  homage,  the 
very  least  as  feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempted 
from  her  power."  Fittingly,  therefore,  among  the  last  thoughts 
of  the  great  ecclesiologist,  after  a  troubled  life,  were  the  order 
and  obedience  of  those  higher  intelligences  into  whose  company 
he  humbly  hoped  to  be  received.  "Order  and  obedience  zvithont 
zvhich  peace  could  not  be  in  heaven/' 

2.  The  Presbyterate  as  an  Extension  of  Parenthood. 

The  earthly  type  of  the  Divine  government  is  the  family. 
*T  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father,  from  whom  every  family 
(Trarpia,  fatherhood)  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named."*  Here 
is  no  democracy  or  republicanism,  but  a  natural  monarchy.  The 
conscious  relation  of  the  child  to  the  father  and  mother  is  the 
best  analogue  we  know  of  the  relation  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, one  and  all,  to  the  Father  in  heaven. 

Lo !  Lord,  I  sit  in  thy  wide  space, 

My  child  upon  my  knee ; 
She  looketh  up  into  my  face, 

And  I  look  up  to  thee. 

It  is  in  the  order  of  nature  that  the  father  and  mother  should 
occupy  toward  the  child,  irrespective  of  its  own  choice  or  action, 
a  relation  of  authoritative  supervision.  Nor  is  this  simply  be- 
cause the  child's  very  life  is  from  the  parent.  For  if  the  parent 
should  become  manifestly  incomi>etent,  through  imbecility  or 
otherwise,  to  care  for  and  govern  the  child,  his  authority  ceases ; 
and  the  State  may  rightly  withdraw  the  child  from  his  control. 
And  on  the  other  hand,  an  adopted  child  comes  under  the  same 

^Eph.  iii.  15. 


2o6  Christianity  as  Organised 

parental  supervision  and  control  as  if  he  had  been  born  in  the 
household.  It  is,  then,  not  simply  the  actual  parenthood,  but  in 
addition  the  resources  of  knowledge,  wisdom,  character,  and 
wealth  represented  by  superior  age,  that  places  the  parent  in  his 
authoritative  relation  toward  the  child. 

Thus  we  may  see  how  naturally,  through  an  extension  of  the 
parental  idea,  patriarchal  government  began.  And  at  the  same 
time  a  moment's  reflection  will  show  how  unnatural  it  would  be 
to  push  the  parental  idea  beyond  a  certain  narrow  range  of  ap- 
plication. Forcibly  to  embody  it  in  the  government  of  a  people, 
in  Church  or  State,  would  be  to  imply  that  such  a  people  were 
as  dependent  upon  their  paternal  autocrat  for  the  outward  ad- 
vantages and  opportunities  that  go  to  make  up  their  life  as  the 
child  is  dependent  for  these  things  upon  his  father  and  mother; 
that  they  are  as  inferior  to  him  in  intelligence,  wisdom,  and 
strength  of  character  as  the  child  is  inferior  to  his  father  and 
mother;  and  that  they  are  loved  by  him  as  the  child  is  loved, 
with  a  personal,  God-given  parental  affection,  by  the  father  and 
mother.  It  is  the  fact  of  government  in  human  society  that  is 
divinely  universal — not  the  form. 

But  family  government  could  easily  enlarge  its  sphere  so  as 
to  become  patriarchal — children's  children  and  others  being  in- 
cluded. And  it  was  by  a  somewhat  similar  development  of  the 
patriarchal  idea  that  the  first  form  of  conciliar  government  arose. 
The  two  guiding  principles  were  kinship  and  maturity  of  ex- 
perience. That  is  to  say,  a  number  of  families  more  or  less  akin 
passed  under  the  government  of  a  council  of  their  seniors,  or 
elders. 

Now,  these  elders  might  be  the  rulers  of  an  independent  clan. 
Or,  when  monarchies  were  developed,  and,  increasing  in  power, 
embraced  vast  regions  of  country  and  various  peoples  within 
their  dominions,  the  conciliar  government  by  elders  might  still 
appear,  in  local  communities,  under  the  general  government. 
And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  thus  appeared  in  sundry  forms 
in  all  ages.     We  read  of  the  elders  of  Pharaoh's  house  and  of 


Oversight:  Presbyter — Early  Office  207 

the  land  of  Egypt/  the  elders  of  Moab,  the  elders  of  Midian." 
A  better  defined  example  is  found  among  the  early  Greeks,  in 
the  Spartan  council  of  elders  (yepovo-ta),  whose  members  had  to 
be  at  least  sixty  years  of  age ;  also  among  the  early  Romans,  in 
their  council  of  Old  Men,'  or  Senate  (scncx,  scuatiis).  Of  the 
same  general  nature  was  the  council  of  family  ciders  that  pre- 
sided over  the  ancient  Russian  commune.  And  even  in  the  pres- 
ent age  a  somewhat  similar  example  appears  in  the  Old  Men  of 
the  aborigines'  villages  of  our  own  continent/  Let  the  older 
men  serve  as  rulers :  the  capacity  to  do  so  confers  the  right  and 
imposes  the  duty/ 

Nevertheless  gray  hairs  and  wisdom  are  not  synonymous  terms. 
The  poet  may  sing  with  truth  of  "years  that  bring  the  philo- 
sophic mind  /'  but  it  is  equally  true,  as  Photius  the  deacon  said 
of  Cyprian,  that  "greater  progress  is  made  by  faith  than  by 
time/'  or,  as  "The  Wisdom  of  Solomon"  had  taught  long  years 
before,  that  "understanding  is  gray  hairs  unto  men,  and  an  un- 
spotted life  is  ripe  old  age."     The  younger  may  be  both  wiser 

^Gen.  1.  7.  *Num.  xxii.  7. 

'"Indeed,  if  this  great  trinity  of  excellences  [counsel,  wisdom,  and  in- 
fluence] did  not  inhere  in  the  old  men,  our  ancestors  would  never  have 
called  their  highest  deliberative  assembly  'the  Senate.'  Even  among  the 
Lacedaemonians  those  who  exercise  the  fullest  powers  are  called  (as  they 
really  are)  Old  Men."     (Cicero,  De  Senectiitc,  c.  5.) 

*''In  all  councils  (as  therein  they  are  circumspect  to  do  their  actions  by 
advice  and  counsel,  and  not  rashly  or  inconsiderately)  the  j'ounger  men's 
opinions  shall  be  heard,  but  the  old  men's  opinion  and  counsel  embraced  and 
followed."  (Morton,  "Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Indians"  [Old  South 
Leaflets],  p.  4.) 

^A  provision  for  constituting  a  legislative  body  partly  or  wholly  on  the 
principle  of  seniority  may  be  found  in  American  Church  History  of  the  last 
century:  "The  General  Conference  [the  one  lawmaking  body  of  the  Church] 
shall  be  composed  of  one  member  for  every  five  members  of  each  Annual 
Conference,  to  be  appointed  either  by  seniority  or  choice,  at  the  discretion 
of  each  Annual  Conference."  (An  act  of  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1808.)  The  law  thus  enacted  held  its  place  in 
the  Discipline  of  the  Church  for  nearly  a  hundred  years;  though  it  would 
seem  that  no  Annual  Conference  ever  saw  fit  to  appoint  any  of  its  delegates 
by  the  method  of  seniority. 


2o8  Christianity  as  Organised 

and  stronger — better  "for  counsel"  as  well  as  "for  war."  Hence 
the  universal  tendency  to  lower  the  age  limit,  modifying  the  an- 
cient order,  so  that  the  senate  may  come  to  be  made  up  of  the 
supposedly  best  men,  whether  older  or  younger. 

In  this  same  line  of  inquiry  we  find  that  what  are  familiarly 
known  nowadays,  through  the  Bible  and  the  present  economy  of 
Christian  churches,  as  presbyters,  or  elders,  were  originally — that 
is  to  say,  in  the  earliest  Old  Testament  times — in  the  literal  sense, 
elderly  men ;  but  that  in  later  times  their  name  no  longer  implies 
an  advanced  age,  though  it  does  imply  the  maturity  of  mind  and 
character  of  which  old  age  is  the  natural  sign. 

Therefore  it  is  most  fitting  that  in  tlie  portraiture  of  the 
"bishop,"  or  presbyter,  in  i  Timothy,  a  comparison  should  be 
made  between  the  presbyterate  in  the  Church  and  fatherhood  in 
the  home :  the  "bishop"  must  be  "one  that  ruleth  well  his  own 
house,  having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all  gravity  (but  if 
a  man  knoweth  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take 
care  of  the  Church  of  God?)."'  Nor  shall  we  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  the  presbyterate,  through  the  ages  of  time  and  through- 
out the  world,  represents  more  generally  than  does  any  other 
office  in  the  Church  this  fatherly  care  and  authority.  Preemi- 
nently it  may  be  taken  as  standing  for  rule,  discipline,  order  in 
the  house  of  God.  It  was  so  in  ancient  Israel ;  it  was  so  in  the 
Israel  of  our  Lord's  day :  it  was  so  in  the  first  Christian  church- 
es ;  it  is  so  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  churches  of  to-day. 
Aptly  does  Richard  Hooker  speak  of  "presbyters,  or  fatherly 
guides." 

Even  in  the  vision  of  the  celestial  kingdom  given  from  the 
ascended  Christ  "unto  his  servant  John"  elders  appear,  four 
and  twenty,  clothed  in  white  raiment,  wearing  crowns  of  gold 
on  their  heads,  sitting  on  thrones  round  about  the  throne  of  the 
Eternal.^ 

Now,  we  may  not  be  prepared,  with  some,  to  profess  the  faith 
that  the  Church  is  here  represented  "as  continuing  in  heaven  un- 

^i  Tim.  iii.  4,  5.  ^Rev.  iv.  4. 


Oversight:  Presbyter — Early  Office  209 

der  the  same  Presbyterian  form  of  government  which  had  char- 
acterized her  whole  liistory  on  earth,'"  any  more  than  we  could 
believe,  with  Clement  of  Alexandria,  that  "the  grades  here  in 
the  Church  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons  are  imitations  of 
the  angelic  glory,"  or  with  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  that  the 
mediaeval  hierarchy  was  divinely  arranged  to  correspond,  rank 
by  rank,  with  the  hierarchy  of  heaven.  Yet  it  may  certainly  be 
said  that  the  celestial  elders  (though  their  title  is  probably  non- 
official,  as  in  Hebrews  xi.  2)  are  a  chosen  symbol  of  wisdom  and 
order  in  the  glorified  Church, 

3.  In  Israel. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  national  history,  the 
elders  appear  as  a  ruling  class;  for  Moses  is  commanded  to 
select  Seventy  of  them  as  his  assistants  in  the  administration  of 
government.^  In  the  time  of  the  Judges  they  are  said  to  have 
gathered  together  and  come  to  Samuel  to  ask  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  king.  Nor  should  we  fail  to  notice  that  they  came 
not  for  themselves  but  as  representatives  of  the  people:  "And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Samuel,  Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  peo- 
ple.'"^ Under  the  reign  of  Josiah  they  are  summoned  by  the 
king  to  cooperate  with  him,  apparently,  in  destroying  the  prev- 
alent idolatry  and  bringing  the  nation  to  make  a  covenant  with 
Jehovah.'' 

Especially  to  be  noted  are  the  elders  of  the  cities ;  for  it  was 
in  the  municipal  go^'ernment  that  these  officers  appeared  most 
prominent  and  authoritative.^ 

The  elders'  office  was  both  administrative  and  judicial.  They 
were  not,  however,  the  only  judges.'  In  fact,  it  is  vain  to  seek 
direct  and  full  information  as  to  their  functions,  which,  there 


^W.  B.  Arrowood,  "Sermon  on  Polity  of  Presbyterian  Church,"  p.  21. 

*Num.  xi.  i6,  17.  ''i  Sam.  viii.  4-7. 

*2  Kings  xxiii. 

^Deut.  xix.  12:  Josh.  xx.  4;  Judges  viii.  14,  16;  Ruth  iv.  2;  i  Sam.  xi. 
3;  xvi.  4;  I  Kings  xxi.  8-11;  Ezra  x.  14.  See  Schurer,  "Jewish  People  in 
Time  of  Jesus  Christ."     (Div.  II.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  150.) 

*Ezra  X.  14. 

14 


2IO  Christianity  as  Organised 

is  reason  to  believe,  were  not  strictly  defined  in  that  primitive 
age.  Neither  have  we  any  account  of  the  method  by  which  they 
were  chosen  to  office.  Probably  the  choice  was  more  passive 
than  active — by  common  consent  without  a  formal  election. 
Showing  themselves  competent  to  give  counsel  and  to  govern, 
they  gave  counsel  and  governed — and  were  obeyed. 

During  the  inter-biblical  period,  the  presbyterate  still  holds 
its  place  as  a  feature  of  the  internal  government  of  the  Jewish 
people,^  and  not  as  a  fossilized  or  decadent  institution.  On  the 
contrary,  it  shows  a  vigorous  and  increasing  vitality." 

Passing  on  to  New  Testament  tinies,  we  shall  meet  with  the 
elder  as  a  still  more  familiar  figure  in  Israel.  For  meantime  the 
Great  Sanhedrin,  let  it  be  remembered,  has  been  organized  in 
Jerusalem,  and  also  the  local  councils,  or  small  sanhedrins, 
throughout  the  land.  A\'hat  was  now  the  presbyteral  office? 
Essentially  the  same,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  that  it  had 
been  from  the  beginning.  For  not  only  did  the  elders  occupy 
seats  in  the  Great  Sanhedrin,  but  in  those  towns  whose  popula- 
tion was  almost  wholly  Jewish  they  themselves  were  the  gov- 
erning body.  As  such  they  composed  the  small,  or  local,  san- 
hedrin— in  the  New  Testament  called,  like  the  Great  Sanhedrin. 
a  "council"* — whose  functions,  corresponding  to  those  of  the 
ancient  presbyterate,  were  both  administrative  and  judicial. 

^"And  they  called  together  all  the  elders  [rovg  TrpeajivTipovg}  of  the  city." 
(Judith  vi.  i6.) 

"And  Jonathan  returned  [from  one  of  his  victories],  and  when  he  had 
called  the  elders  ["^f  npea/ivTipovc]  of  the  people  together,  he  consulted 
with  them,"  etc.     (i  Maccabees  xii.  35.) 

"Since  the  Jews,  .  .  .  when  we  came  to  the  city  [Jerusalem]  received 
us  in  a  splendid  manner,  and  came  to  meet  us  with  the  senate,"  etc.  (Letter 
of  Antiochus  the  Great  to  Ptolemy,  in  Josephus,  Ant.  Bk.  XII.,  ch.  iii.  3.) 

^"Undoubtedly  heretofore  each  high  priest  had  consulted  the  heads  of 
families  and  prominent  men  of  the  community  before  taking  important 
actio'i,  but  henceforth  [from  the  time  of  Antiochus  the  Great]  they  consti- 
tute an  organized  and  recognized  body,  the  legislative  and  executive  powers 
of  which  were  constantly  increased."  (Kent,  "History  of  the  Jewish  Peo- 
ple," pp.  30s,  306.) 

*Matt.  X.  17. 


Oversight:  Presbyter — Early  Office  211 

The  office  of  elder  must  not  be  confounded  with  that  of  the 
"ruler  of  the  synagogue"  (dpxio- way wyos) — or  "rulers,"  for  it 
seems  that  in  some  cases  there  was  but  one,  and  in  others  more/ 
This  was  an  office  to  which  was  assigned  the  special  oversight 
of  the  synagogue  worship,  and  of  the  building  in  which  the 
services  were  held.  It  might  be,  and  as  a  rule  it  probably  was, 
filled  by  an  elder;  but  not  necessarily  so.  It  was  a  different 
office.  But  the  two  were  in  accord  and  cooperation  with  each 
other  for  the  general  well-being  of  the  community."  The  regu- 
lar meeting  place  of  the  council  of  elders  was  the  synagogue; 
and  on  the  Sabbath  they  were  honored  with  seats  on  the  plat- 
form in  time  of  worship.  The  ruler  of  the  synagogue  presided, 
and  the  elders  made  a  semicircle  about  him.  Theirs  w^ere  the 
"chief  seats."^ 

Not  only  among  the  Jews  of  the  Holy  Land,  but  also  in  the 
communities  of  the  Dispersion,  the  prevailing  form  of  govern- 
ment seems  to  have  been  presbyteral.* 

The  elders  of  this  time  were  elected  by  the  people.^  Their 
authority  was  firmly  established  and  of  wide  range.  Acting  as  a 
court,  they  could  pronounce  upon  an  offender  a  sentence  either 
of  excommunication  or  of  corporal  punishment ;  and  in  case  of 
the  latter  the  "attendant"  of  the  synagogue'  had  to  inflict  the 
penalty.  Jesus  forewarned  his  disciples :  "They  will  deliver  you 
up  to  councils,  and  in  their  synagogues  they  will  scourge  you."' 

Here,  then,  to  borrow  the  language  of  civics,  was  a  strong 

^Luke  xiii.  14;  Mark  v.  22. 

^Schiirer,  "Jewish  People  in  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,"  Div.  II.,  Vol.  II., 
pp.  62-65.     Hort,  "The  Christian  Ecclesia,"  pp.  65,  66. 

^Matt.  xxiii.  6. 

*In  the  Dispersion  there  was  a  body  of  non-official  "elders"  called  the 
■yepovaia;  its  chief  was  called  the  yepovaidpxK;  and  its  committee  of  manage- 
ment, theapxovrec.  See  Schurer,  "The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ," 
Div.  II.,  Vol.  IT.,  pp.  247-252. 

'*"And  absence  of  pride,  as  also  gentleness  and  humility,  are  mentioned 
as  special  qualifications."  (Edersheim,  "Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Mes- 
siah," Vol.  I.,  p.  438.)  Edersheim,  unlike  Schurer,  identifies  the  elders  with 
the  rulers  of  the  synagogue. 

•Luke  iv.  20.  'Matt.  x.  17. 


212  Christianity  as  Organised 

conciliar,  or  republican,  form  of  government.  Not  a  pure  de- 
mocracy, not  an  aristocracy  or  a  monarchy;  but  an  ecclesiastic 
republicanism.     Such  was  the  Jewish  presbyterate. 

4.  In  the  Christian  Church. 

Now,  it  might  have  reasonably  been  expected  that,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  word  of  the  Lord  to  the  contrary,  a  similar  form 
of  government  would  be  adopted  by  the  first  Christian  congre- 
gations. For  these  congregations  were  composed,  either  whol- 
ly or  mainly,  of  Jews,  and  withal  were  not  separatists  or  schis- 
matics. Even  the  sects  of  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  were  not 
schismatics;  much  less  the  so-called  sect  of  Nazarenes.  These 
claimed  to  be,  what  in  fact  they  were,  the  orthodox  members  of 
the  Church  of  their  fathers.  They  were  the  new  and  true  Israel. 
They  called  their  congregations  either  synagogues  or  churches — 
though  far  preferably,  it  seems,  the  latter.'  A  Christian  syna- 
gogue, indeed,  might  be  one  of  the  old-time  synagogues  con- 
verted as  a  body  to  the  faith  of  Jesus. 

It  were  well  that  the  Church  should  think  gratefully  of  that 
preparer  of  the  way  of  the  Lord,  both  in  "his  own"  land  and 
among  the  nations — the  Jewish  synagogue.  It  had  pulpit  with- 
out altar,  preacher  without  priest,  worship  without  sacrifice  or 
incense,  a  congregational  type  of  religion.  And  the  same  were 
features  of  the  early  Christian  congregations. 

But  what  calls  more  immediately  for  remark  is,  that  just  as 
the  simple  forms  of  worship  in  the  synagogue  appeared,  the 
same  yet  not  the  same,  in  the  Christian  congregation,  so  might 
it  have  seemed  likely  that  the  simple  and  effective  forms  of  pres- 
byteral  government  in  the  Jewish  community  which  gathered 

^Schiirer,  op.  cit. ;  "The  Idea  of  the  Church,"  Part  I.,  ch.  ii. 

The  word  "synagogue"  is  used  for  the  Christian  "congregation"  in  Her- 
mas,  "The  Pastor,"  Commandments,  11:  "When,  therefore,  a  man  having 
the  Divine  Spirit  comes  into  an  assembly  {e'lg  away(jyrjv)  of  righteous  men 
who  have  faith  in  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  there  is  offered  prayer  to  God  by 
this  assembly  (rw  ^nwa^wy^f)  of  the  righteous  men,  ...  the  man.  be- 
ing filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  speaks  to  the  multitude  as  the  Lord  wishes." 
And  so  in  two  other  passages  of  the  chapter. 


Oversight:  Presbyter — Early  OiUce  213 

about  the  synagogue  would  appear,  the  same  }et  not  the  same, 
among  the  Christians  also.     And  so  they  did. 

Accordingly  the  presbyterate  is  mentioned  in  the  Acts  and  the 
Epistles  rather  as  a  matter  of  course  than  as  if  it  were  a  new 
institution.  We  have  no  such  account  of  its  origin,  for  exam- 
ple, as  is  given  of  the  appointment  of  the  Seven."  We  simply 
read  that  the  Christians  of  /Kntioch,  providing  relief  for  the 
needy  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  "sent  it  to  the  elders  by  the  hands 
of  Barnabas  and  Saul ;""  that  these  same  two  apostles  appointed 
elders  in  every  church  which  they  had  gathered. in  Asia  Minor,' 
that  Paul  "sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  to  him  the  elders  of  the 
Church  ;"*  and  so  on.  The  presbyterate  of  the  Jewish-Christian 
congregations,  then,  was  not  an  actually  new  institution. 

And  now  another  step.  As  Gentiles  were  won  to  Christian 
discipleship,  from  time  to  time,  and  brought  together  in  churches 
of  their  own  race,  wholly  or  predominantly,  they  would  not  un- 
naturally follow  the  example  of  church  order  set  forth  by  their 
Jewish  brethren.  But,  in  addition  to  this,  they  were  accustomed 
to  government  by  elders  in  their  own  communities.  For  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Grseco-Roman  cities,  as  well  as  that  of  the  nu- 
merous political  and  religious  societies  in  these  cities,  was  of 
this  character.^  Thus  two  classes  of  examples,  Jewish  and 
Graeco-Roman,  were  exerting  their  influence  in  the  same  direc- 
tion upon  the  organization  of  the  Gentile  churches.  And  it  was 
a  natural  consequence  that  they  too  should  become  presbyteral 
societies. 

One  is  not  to  assume,  however,  that  this  form  of  government 
was  everywhere  prevalent  from  the  first.  For  example,  nothing 
is  said  in  the  New  Testament  about  elders  in  the  church  at  Anti- 
och,  though  the  "disciples,"  "the  church,"  and  "the  brethren"  are 
spoken  of  more  than  once.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  church 
at  Corinth  and  at  Rome. 

^Acts  vi.  1-6.  *Acts  xi.  30.  'Acts  xiv.  23.  ''Acts  xx.  17. 

"Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp.  62,  63;  Lindsay, 
"The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  p.  I54- 


VII. 

THE  PRESBYTER:  HIS  LATER  AND  PRESENT 

OFFICE. 

If  what  we  have  thus  far  learned  is  trustworthy,  we  are  not 
to  conceive  of  the  presbyterate  any  more  than  of  the  diaconate 
or  of  any  other  office  as  instituted  by  some  apostohc  mandate. 
It  came  from  within,  not  from  without.  It  was  provided,  as 
the  need  made  itself  felt,  which  in  some  circumstances  would  be 
sooner  than  in  others. 

Everywhere,  in  fact,  there  may  be  seen  a  close  affinity  be- 
tween social  need  and  office — an  affinity  which  is  suggested  by 
the  use  of  the  same  Greek  word  {xp^^°)  for  both  ideas,  the  need 
and  the  office  to  which  it  gives  rise.' 

What  was  the  number  of  presbyters  in  each  Christian  con- 
gregation, or  whether  there  was  any  required  or  customary  num- 
ber, we  do  not  know.  In  the  local  sanhedrin  the  number  varied 
within  certain  limits — probably  from  seven  to  twenty-three' — 
according  to  the  size  of  the  congregation ;  and  it  may  be  that  a 
similar  rule  obtained  in  the  churches. 

As  to  the  official  duties  of  the  presbyter  (or  bishop),  the  New 
Testament  answer  may  be  given  in  few  words:  First,  as  stated 
in  general,  to  oversee  and  take  care  of  the  congregation,''  to 
teach,  if  he  could;*  to  help  the  weak;  to  rule' — not  to  overrule, 
but  to  be  himself  what  he  required  others  to  become  \  to  exhort 
and  to  convince  gainsayers ;'  to  minister  to  the  sick  \  secondly, 
as  illustrated  in  particular  instances,  to  take  charge  of  money 
contributed  for  the  relief  of  the  poor;*  conjointly  with  the  Apos- 
tles to  decide  urgent  disciplinary  questions;'"  together  with  an 

'Acts  iv.  35;  vi.  3. 

^'Schiirer,   "History  of  Jewish   People,"   Div.    II.,  Vol.   I.,  pp.    ISI-I54- 

*Acts  XX.  28;  I  Tim.  iii.  5.  'Titus  i.  9. 

*i  Tim.  iii.  2;  v.  17.  *James  v.  14- 

^A.cts  XX.  35.  "Acts  xi.  29,  30. 

*i   Pet.  V.  2,  3.  "Acts  XV.  23-29. 
(214) 


Presbyter:  Later  O'Mce  215 

Apostle,  to  set  persons  apart  with  laying  on  of  hands  for  some 
Christian  ministry/ 

But  observe,  there  was  not  one  of  these  functions  but  might 
be  performed  by  some  other  minister  of  the  Church — Apostle, 
teacher,  deacon — or  by  Christian  people  generally. 

The  presbyters,  then,  were  the  chief  local  officers  in  a  Chris- 
tian society,  as  in  the  contemporary  Jewish  communities,  of  the 
apostolic  period.  Whatever  was  meant  by  ecclesiastical  order, 
or,  more  specifically,  whatever  was  meant  by  representative  su- 
pervision and  authority  over  a  church,  that  is  what  they  stood 
for.  Over  a  church,  let  it  be  noted;  not  over  the  Church,  or 
over  a  number  of  churches.  For  there  is  no  satisfactory  ev- 
idence that  the  Christian  elders'  jurisdiction  extended,  any 
more  than  did  that  of  the  elders  of  the  local  Jewish  councils, 
beyond  the  single  congregation  which  they  were  appointed  to 
serve. 

But  we  must  now  pass  from  the  congregations  of  the  New 
Testament  period  to  their  successors,  and  on  to  the  present  day. 

I.  Presbyters  as  Judges  and  Administrators. 

In  the  sub-apostolic  age  (say,  100-150)  a  very  conspicuous 
function  of  the  presbyters  was  that  of  judges  and  administrators 
of  the  law.  They  had,  indeed,  various  administrative  duties: 
the  oversight  of  congregational  worship,  the  direction  of 
finances,  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  poor,"  the  administration 
of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  And  in  some  instances,  per- 
haps generally,  they  were  teachers  or  preachers. 

But  most  prominent  were  their  judicial  and  disciplinary  func- 
tions.    The  Church  was  the  Christians'  tribunal :  their  causes 

^i  Tim.  iv.  14. 

*For  this  ministration  was  not  wholly  turned  over  to  the  deacon — even 
as  it  is  not  by  the  elder  of  a  Presbyterian  or  a  Baptsit  church  of  to-day  : 
"And  let  the  presb3'ters  be  compassionate  and  merciful  to  all,  bringing  back 
those  that  wander,  visiting  all  the  sick,  and  not  neglecting  the  widow,  the 
orphan,  or  the  poor."     (Polycarp,  'To  the  Philippians,"  6.) 


2i6  Christianity  as  Organised 

must  not  be  litigated  in  heathen  courts/  But  especially  must 
strict  discipline  be  maintained.  The  Bride  of  Christ  is  to  keep 
herself  unspotted  from  the  world.  Christian  morality  is  to  be 
emphasized  even  more  than  definite  theological  knowledge  and 
belief.  Hence  the  presbyter  was  very  prominently  a  judge  and 
administrator  of  the  law. 

Our  familiar  idea  of  the  care  of  a  church  is  that  of  a  pastor 
preaching  and  teaching  Sunday  after  Sunday,  making  pastoral 
visitations,  and  administering  discipline — the  last  being  the  least. 
But  it  would  be  quite  amiss  to  date  this  twentieth  century  picture 
in  the  sub-apostolic  age.  True,  all  the  features  of  it  may  be 
found  there ;  but  with  the  proportions  markedly  different.  The 
presbyter-pastors — note  the  plural  number — of  a  church  in  those 
early  days  were,  first  of  all,  literally  rectors. 

And  we  shall  find  the  same  thing  to  be  more  distinctly  true 
of  the  single-presbyter,  or  single-bishop,  pastor,  when  he  appears. 
There  is  evidence  of  this,  for  example,  in  what  may  be  called 
the  first  book  on  pastoral  theology  ever  written — in  the  "Pastoral 
Rule"  {Rcgida  Pastoralis)  of  Gregory  the  Great  (d.  604). 
Gregory,  it  is  true,  compares  the  pastor  to  a  physician,  and  has 
much  to  say  of  him  as  a  teacher;  but  the  idea  of  rulership  in 
connection  with  his  office — as  expressed  in  such  words  as 
"ruler,"  "supreme  rule,"  "weight  of  government,"  "care  of  gov- 
ernment," "dominion,"  "pastoral  authority,"  "place  of  rule,"  "em- 
inent dominion" — is  ever  present  with  a  prominence  and  per- 
sistence cjuite  unknown  to  the  pastoral  theology  with  which  we 
in  our  day  are  familiar. 

But  here  let  us  be  careful  to  take  note  of  an  important  dis- 
tinction. The  Christian  eldership  was  not  wholly  the  same  as 
the  Jewish  eldership.  It  was  not  even  nearly  the  same.  For 
example,  the  Jewish  council  of  elders  had  control  of  municipal 

^i  Cor.  vi.  I. 

"Let  not  those  who  have  disputes  go  to  law  before  the  civil  powers,  but 
let  them  by  all  means  be  reconciled  by  the  elders  of  the  Church,  and  let 
them  readily  yield  to  their  decision."  ("The  Clementines,"  Clement  to 
James,  10.) 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  217 

as  well  as  of  ecclesiastical  affairs;  the  Christian  elders,  of  eccle- 
siastical affairs  only.  Again,  the  Jewish  council  of  elders  sat  as 
a  complete  and  independent  court,  deciding  cases  of  discipline, 
condemning  the  guilty,  and  administering  suitable  punishment, 
with  no  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  people.  And  the  same 
is  true  of  the  session  of  elders  in  Presbyterian  churches  of  the 
present  day.  But  it  is  not  certain  that  the  early  Christian  elders 
were  clothed  with  such  exclusive  prerogatives.  In  some  of  their 
meetings,  at  least,  whether  for  discipline  or  for  other  purposes, 
the  people  seem  to  have  consulted  and  voted  with  them.^  It  may 
well  be,  indeed,  that  in  many  cases  the  congregation  would 
leave  these  matters  to  the  elders'  decision — not  caring  to  share 
their  responsibility,  though  perhaps  present  at  the  meeting.^  But 
there  is  evidence  of  the  recognized  right  of  the  congregation  to 
take  part  in  the  consideration  and  decision  of  disciplinary  cases. 
Even  as  late  as  the  close  of  the  second  century  Tertullian  writes : 
"It  is  a  very  grave  forestalling  of  the  judgment  to  come,  if  any 
have  so  offended  as  to  be  put  out  of  the  communion  of  prayer, 
of  the  solemn  assembly,  and  of  all  holy  fellowship.  The  most 
approved  elders  preside/'^ 

For  the  Christian  presbyterate,  like  the  other  Christian  insti- 
tutions, had  an  innate  formative  idea.  It  was  no  mere  copyist. 
It  filled  with  its  own  life,  and  thus  molded  for  its  own  purpose, 
whatever  it  may  have  taken  from  an  existing  office.  Thus,  then, 
it  showed  itself,  especially  in  the  first  and  purer  period  of  church 
history,  to  be  more  democratic  than  the  Jewish  presbyterate.  It 
would  admit  the  people  to  a  larger  share  in  government. 

And  not  only  so ;  it  was  also  much  more  pastoral  in  its  spirit 
and  work — teaching,  exhorting,  ministering  to  the  sick,  helping 
the  poor,  shepherding  the  flock  of  Christ.  Hardly  could  a  Jew- 
ish council  have  made  a  like-minded  response  to  such  an  appeal 
as  that  of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  elders  of  the  church  in  Ephe- 
sus :  "Take  heed  unto  yourselves  and  to  all  the  flock,  in  the  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  hath  made  you  bishops,  to  feed  the  Church  of 

'Acts  XV.  4,  6,  12,  22.  "Acts  xxi.  17,  18.  'Apology,  39. 


2i8  Christianity  as  Organised 

God,  which  he  purchased  with  his  own  blood.  .  .  .  Where- 
fore, watch  ye,  remembering  that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I 
ceased  not  to  admonish  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears. 

.  .  In  all  things  I  gave  you  an  example,  how  that  so  labor- 
ing ye  ought  to  help  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  himself  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive.'"  An  elder  of  the  Jews,  a  Christian  pastor — 
the  two  were  far  from  being  identical. 

A  side  light  falls  upon  this  point  from  the  forms  of  worship 
in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  Church.  \\'>.  have  already  seen  that 
these  forms  were  the  same,  yet  not  the  same.  In  fact,  they  were 
inwardly  very  different,  and  hence  more  or  less  different  out- 
wardly. Compare  the  Scripture-reading,  the  exposition,  the 
formal  prayers,  the  chanting  by  the  precentor  of  one  of  the 
few  prescribed  Psalms  with  the  congregational  response  of  "Hal- 
leluiah" or  "Amen  and  Amen,"'  of  the  ancient  Jewish  assembly, 
with  the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Gospels,  and  the  let- 
ters of  Apostles,  the  prophetic  speech  and  interpretation,  the 
spontaneous  outbursts  of  fervent  prayer,  the  joyousness,  the 
singing  one  to  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs, 
of  the  primitive  Christian  congregation.  It  was  the  difference 
between  the  Oriental  lamp  and  the  electric  bulb,  between  the  vo- 
cabulary of  prose  and  of  poetry,  between  routine  and  inspira- 
tion. And  similar  was  the  difference  between  presbyteral  over- 
sight in  a  Jewish  community  and  in  a  Christian  church. 

But  so  far  as  the  concurrence  or  cooperation  of  the  people 
with  the  presbyters  of  the  Church  was  concerned,  this  came  to 
be  regarded  as  of  less  and  less  value,  through  the  encroachment 
of  hierarchic  ideas,  till  it  was  no  longer  sought  or  even  per- 
mitted. 

2.  The  Presiding  Presbyter,  or  Bishop. 

We  shall  have  to  remark,  further,  that  just  as  the  presbyter- 
pastors  tended  to  release  themselves  from  the  cooperation  of  the 

\\cts  XX.  28-35. 

^"The  Jewish  Encyclopedia,"  Articles  on  Synagogue  and  Psalms. 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  219 

congregation  and  act  independently,  so  the  presiding  presbyter- 
pastor,  who  came  to  be  known  by  the  exclusive  title  of  bishop, 
tended  to  rise  above  his  fellow-presbyters  and  concentrate  in  his 
own  person  the  functions  which  he  and  they  had  formerly  exer- 
cised in  common.  Thus  the  bishop  was  not  only  made  the  su- 
preme ruler  of  the  congregation,  but  he  also  began  to  be  looked 
uix)n  as  the  most  proper  person  to  administer  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  and  to  preach.  Others  must  not,  except  in  his 
absence  and  with  his  permission,  perform  these  functions.  Also, 
while  the  presbytery  were  still  his  council,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
act  at  times  in  his  own  name.^ 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  this  concentration  in  the 
presiding  presbyter,  or  bishop,  of  the  functions  formerly  exer- 
cised equally  by  all  presbyters  implied  any  inherent  difference 
between  the  two  officers.  It  was  not  a  law  laid  down  by  Chirst 
or  his  Apostles,  Ijut  purely  a  matter  of  order  and  expediency. 
It  was  in  virtue  of  liis  pastorship  of  the  congregation  that  others 
within  his  jurisdiction  must  be  restrained  from  the  performance 
of  official  ministerial  acts  without  his  permission.  The  regula- 
tion was  not  essentially  different  from  what  may  be  seen  in  cer- 
tain Christian  pastorates  of  the  present  day.^ 

^For  a  fuller  view  of  this  transition  see  pp.  232  ff. 

*"It  was  not  fit  or  just  that  any  one  should  preach  or  govern  in  a  parish 
without  the  permission  of  the  bishop,  or  pastor,  thereof;  .  .  .  for  though 
a  presbyter  by  his  ordination  had  as  ample  an  inherent  right  to  discharge 
all  clerical  offices  as  any  bishop  in  the  world  had,  yet  peace,  unity,  and  order 
obliged  him  not  to  invade  that  part  of  God's  Church  which  was  committed 
to  another  man's  care,  without  that  man's  approbation  and  consent."  (Lord 
King,  "Inquiry  into  the  Primitive  Church"    (1841),  p.  64.) 

Cf.  the  regulations  on  this  subject  in  some  present-day  churches:  "Any 
traveling  or  local  preacher  or  layman  who  shall  hold  public  religious  services 
within  the  bounds  of  any  mission,  circuit,  or  station,  when  requested  by  the 
preacher  in  charge  not  to  do  so,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  imprudent  con- 
duct, and  shall  be  dealt  with  as  the  law  provides  in  such  cases."  ("Discipline 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South"   (1906),  Par.  306.) 

For  the  first  few  years  of  its  history  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
gave  its  preachers  in  charge  sole  authority  to  expel  unruly  or  immoral  mem- 
bers of  the  Church. 


220  Christianity  as  Organized 

On  the  other  hand,  the  rise  of  diocesan  episcopacy,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  strengthened  the  presbyterate. 
For,  as  new  congregations  were  formed  round  the  mother 
church,  and  presbyters  were  appointed  as  their  pastors,  these 
presbyters  in  charge  occupied  very  nearly  the  same  position  in 
their  respective  charges  as  the  congregational  bishop  had  occu- 
pied in  his.  They  could  baptize ;  they  could  celebrate  the  Lord's 
Supper;  and  preaching  came  to  be  recognized,  at  least  in  the 
West,  as  a  function  of  the  presbyters  as  well  as  of  the  bishop. 
In  a  word,  the  simple  presbyter  now  became  the  sole  immediate 
pastor  of  a  congregation — a  position  which  he  had  never  before 
occupied. 

Here  for  a  few  moments  it  may  be  worth  while  to  pause  and 
note  more  particularly  the  significance  of  one  of  these  functions. 
Regularly,  in  his  own  congregation,  without  any  special  permis- 
sion of  the  bishop,  the  presbyter  could  now  adiiiinistcr  the  Lord's 
Supper.  A  simple  minor  matter,  was  it?  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  a  change  in  ecclesiastical  order  that  has  been  described  as  a 
"revolution — if  anything  in  the  gradual  development  of  church 
organization  may  be  called  revolutionary."^  As  will  be  seen  in 
the  next  chapter,  the  presidency  of  the  Lord's  Supper  had  helped 
greatly  to  fix  the  status  of  the  bishop;  it  now  helps  in  like  man- 
ner to  fix  the  status  of  the  presbyter.  To  preside  at  the  table  of 
the  Lord — that  of  itself  was  sufficient  to  impart  a  distinct  worth 
and  dignity  to  the  presbyter's  office.  And  it  is  a  function  that 
he  has  retained  ever  since. 

For  a  time  the  presbyters  in  charge  were  held  as  members 
of  the  bishop's  council,  to  aid  in  governing  his  group  of  churches 
— namely,  the  congregation  of  which  he  was  still  the  immediate 
pastor,  and  their  congregations,  of  which  he  was  now  the  gen- 
eral superintendent.  But  in  point  of  fact  they  probably  did  much 
less  service  than  heretofore  as  councilors ;  and  in  course  of  time 
their  place  came  to  be  filled  by  a  body  of  presbyters  and  deacons 
known  as  canons.    Thus  the  presbyters  in  charge  were  still  fur- 

'Lowrie,  "The  Church  and  Its  Organizations,"  p.  297. 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  221 

ther  detached  from  the  bishop  and  strengthened  in  their  inde- 
pendent position. 

3.   Presbyter  Perverted  into  Priest. 

But  above  all  did  the  sacerdotal  idea,  which  had  become 
strongly  influential  by  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  increase 
the  power  of  the  presbyter.  For  it  clothed  him  as  such  with 
the  prerogative  of  official  mediation  between  God  and  man. 
Henceforth  he  stood  at  an  altar  and  professed  to  offer  up  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  This  was 
now  the  presbyter's  profession  of  authority  and  power  ;^  and  as 
time  went  on,  it  increased  unto  still  greater  hierarchic  perversion 
of  his  office  and  ministry.  To  him  as  confessor  must  the  penitent 
come  to  be  released  from  his  sins.  Eternal  life  and  death,  in 
any  individual  case,  depended  upon  words  which  he  claimed,  in 
his  capacity  of  priest,  to  be  empowered  to  speak.  It  was  hardly 
possible  that  the  difference  of  order  between  layman  and  presby- 
ter should  ever  be  wider  than  it  had  now  become/ 

Accordingly  the  Roman  Church  has  never  declared  that  there 
is  any  higher  Ploly  Order  than  the  priesthood.  The  bishop  and 
even  the  pope  claim  to  be  higher  in  order  of  dignity  and  power 
of  office  only.''     The  priesthood  is  one,  because  there  can  be 

'Note  the  incommensurable  power  of  presbyter  and  of  deacon  in  Jerome: 
"I  am  told  that  some  one  has  been  mad  enough  to  put  deacons  before  pres- 
byters— that  is,  before  bishops.  For  while  the  apostle  clearly  enough  teaches 
that  presbyters  are  the  same  as  bishops,  must  not  a  mere  server  of  tables 
and  of  widows  be  insane  to  set  himself  up  arrogantly  over  men  through 
whose  prayers  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  produced?"  ("To  Evan- 
gelus,"   I.) 

"■'The  power  of  consecrating  and  offering  the  body  and  blood  of  our 
Lord  and  of  remitting  sin  is  such  as  cannot  be  comprehended  by  the  human 
mind,  still  less  is  it  equaled  by,  or  assimilated  to,  anything  on  earth.     .     .     . 

"The  power  with  which  the  Christian  priesthood  is  clothed  is  a  heavenly 
power,  raised  above  that  of  angels."  (Donovan,  "Catechism  of  the  Council 
of  Trent,"  On  the  Sacrament  of  Orders,  pp.  212,  215.) 

'Tt  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  motive  has  not  always  seemed  to 
be  doctrinal  or  historic  conviction.  In  the  great  determinative  case,  at  least, 
it  seemed  to  have  been  papal  policy.  That  is  to  say,  it  was  through  this  influ- 
ence that  the  Council  of  Trent  refused  to  "declare,  pronounce,  and  define"  that 


222  Christianity  as  Organised 

nothing  essentially  greater — the  priest  at  the  altar  being  a  daily 
miracle-worker,  the  most  stupendous  that  ever  trod  the  earth/ 

Henceforth,  then,  through  the  Middle  Ages  and  in  the  Eastern 
and  Roman  Churches  of  the  modern  age,  we  are  to  think  of  the 
presbyter  as  claiming  priesthood  and  appearing  always  in  that 
character.  With  entire  appropriateness  the  New  Testament  title 
of  presbyter  has  been  pushed  aside,  because  it  no  longer  sug- 
gests, much  less  contains,  the  essential  feature  of  the  office.  A 
new  office,  come  from  without,  has  taken  the  place  of  the  old. 
A  new  officer  has  arisen.  Priest,  offerer  of  sacrifice — that  is  the 
word  which  overshadows  the  significance  of  all  other  appella- 
tions by  which  he  may  be  known. 

4.  Development  of  the  Arch-Presbyterate. 

A  presbyteral  development  that  cannot  be  condemned  as  a  per- 
version was  the  arch-presbyterate.  This  office  appears  in  two 
different  forms,  whose  origins  are  separated  by  a  distance  of 
four  centuries.  First,  it  was  an  office  for  the  city.  Here  the 
arch-presbyter,  who  was  usually,  though  not  necessarily,  the 
senior  member  of  his  presbytery,  exercised  a  certain  authority 
delegated  to  him  by  the  bishop,  over  his  fellow-presbyters  of 

bishops  held  their  office  jure  divino.  It  was  urged  by  many  bishops  to  do  so. 
But  the  pope  through  his  legate  persistently  and  most  skillfully  opposed  such 
action.  He  was  afraid  of  the  bishops.  Had  they  not  in  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance declared  that  the  pope  himself  was  subject  to  the  General  Council? 
Were  they  not  now  in  very  many  instances — the  Spanish  bisliops,  e.  g.,  as 
a  body — restless  under  their  oath  of  allegiance  to  him,  claiming  that  they 
held  their  office  immediately  under  Christ  (jure  divino),  and  not  imme- 
diately under  the  pope  (lege  ecclesiastica).  This  would  never  do.  Already 
the  bishops  were  dangerous  to  the  pope's  supremacy;  and  if  the  Council 
should  make  their  office  jure  divino,  their  power  to  resist  papal  authority 
would  be  greatly  increased.  So,  apparently  with  this  motive,  it  was  not 
done. 

^"The  turning  of  the  host  into  God  was  so  great  an  action  that  they  [the 
schoolmen]  reckoned  there  could  be  no  office  higher  than  that  which  qualified 
a  man  to  so  mighty  a  performance ;  ...  so  they  raised  their  order  or 
office  so  high  as  to  make  it  equal  with  the  order  of  bishop."  (Burnet,  "His- 
tory of  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England,"  Vol.  I.,  Addenda,  ad. 
pag.  400.) 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  223 

the  bishop's  council.  His  main  function,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  to  take  charge  of  congregational  worship,  and  to  ad- 
minister baptism,  on  occasion  of  the  bishop's  absence.  Also,  in 
case  of  a  vacancy  in  the  episcopal  see,  the  arch-presbyter  was 
entitled  to  perform  the  functions  of  a  bishop — with  the  very  prob- 
able exception  of  ordination.  His  position  foreshadowed  that  of 
the  dean  of  a  medicTval  and  a  modern  cathedral. 

But  there  also  arose  a  rural  arch-presbyter.  This  develop- 
ment did  not  occur  till  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  and  was 
confined  to  Western  Europe.  It  was  occasioned  by  circumstances 
peculiar  to  that  region.  In  certain  pretty  wide  districts  there 
would  be  but  one  church  in  which  the  rites  of  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  might  be  administered.  But  in  addition  to  this 
principal  church,  here  and  tliere  were  chapels,  or  oratories,  in 
which  only  a  service  of  prayer  was  conducted.  Each  of  these 
cliapels  was  presided  over  by  a  presbyter,  or  perhaps  by  a  deacon, 
or  perhaps  even  by  a  member  of  some  minor  order  of  the  clergy. 
Now  the  presbyter-pastor  of  the  principal,  or  baptismal,  church 
had  a  certain  oversight  of  the  chapels,  or  non-baptismal  church- 
es, and  accordingly  received  the  title  of  arch-presbyter.  And 
even  when  after  a  time  these  chapels  became  baptismal  churches, 
in  which  the  sacraments  might  be  administered,  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  arch-presbyter  over  them  was  kept  up.  Thus  originated 
the  rural  arch-presbyterate. 

The  office  was  similar  to  that  of  the  rural  dean  in  the  Church 
of  England — an  officer  who  represents  the  bishop  in  executing 
official  writs  and  in  taking  oversight  of  morals  and  manners  in 
the  district  assigned  him. 

Another,  and  in  our  country  much  more  familiar  type,  of  the 
arch-presbyterate  is  the  presiding  eldershi^D — or  "district  super- 
intendency" — of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches.  Here  is  an 
office  of  presbyteral  supervision  that  began  with  the  organization 
of  Methodism  as  a  church  in  America.  An  elder  is  appointed 
to  preside  over  his  fellow-elders  and  other  preachers  within  a 
certain  prescribed  district — in  most  instances  chiefly  or  wholly 
in  the  country.     To  hold  quarterly  conferences  in  the  various 


224  Christianity  as  Organised 

pastoral  charges,  to  supply  churches  with  pastors,  to  direct  can- 
didates for  the  ministry  to  their  studies,  to  see  that  discipline  is 
enforced,  to  "preach,  and  to  OAcrsee  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  Church" — such  are  the  chief  functions  of  this  arch- 
presbyter  in  American  Christianity. 

5.  The  Scriptural  Presbyterate  of  To-Day. 

At  the  present  time  the  scriptural  form  of  the  presbyterate  is 
best  represented,  as  might  be  imagined,  by  the  Christian  com- 
munions of  the  Presbyterian  order — such  as  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, the  Reformed  Churches  of  the  Continent  and  of  America, 
and  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Great  Britain  and  America. 
These  churches  have  divided  the  presbyterate  into  two  offices — 
namely,  that  of  both  teaching  and  ruling  and  that  of  ruling  only. 
The  former  may  be  classed  as  a  clerical  and  the  latter  as  a  lay 
office.  So  there  are  ministers,  or  "teaching  elders,''  and  lay  rul- 
ers, or  "ruling  elders."  And  the  government  of  the  Church 
rests  wholly  in  the  hands  of  these  two  classes  of  presbyters. 

This  system  dates  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and 
bears  the  stamp  of  that  prince  of  system-builders,  John  Calvin. 
For  Calvin's  genius  was  notably  the  genius  of  order.  Was  he 
needed  by  his  age?  could  it  be  said  to  him,  as  Ignatius  WTote  to 
Polycarp,  "The  times  call  for  thee  as  do  pilots  for  the  winds?" 
Most  unhappy  have  been  the  effects  of  that  compact  system  of 
doctrine  in  which  he  gave  logical  form  to  his  conception  of 
theism  and  the  evangelic  faith.  For  "the  mistakes  of  the  great 
are  calamities."  But  in  the  one  respect  with  which  we  are  con- 
cerned in  the  present  study,  Calvin  was  both  greatly  needed  and 
greatly  successful.  He  actualized  the  best  thought  of  his  age 
and  of  subsequent  generations,  as  an  organizer,  no  less  truly  than 
did  Martin  Luther  as  a  witness  for  religious  thinking,  experience, 
and  freedom. 

For  the  Reformation  was  not  a  wild  rebellion.  Had  it  been 
such,  it  would  soon  have  broken  itself  to  pieces  and  been  swept 
away.  There  was  no  lawless  element  in  it.  "Under  law  to 
Christ"  was  its  principle  of  procedure.     The  Reformers  would 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  225 

do  nothing  against  the  truth  of  authority  but  everything  for  that 
truth.  They  reahzed  that  to  cast  off  the  yoke  of  Rome,  intolera- 
ble as  that  yoke  had  been,  was  a  perilous  undertaking.  For 
might  it  not  make  an  opportunity  for  license,  born  of  self-will,- 
to  simulate  liberty,  the  child  of  law  ? 

It  actually  did  make  such  an  opportunity.  Through  its  abuse 
a  way  was  opened  for  the  wildest  ^^agaries  of  the  mind  as  well  as 
the  sanest  convictions  and  the  deepest  intuitions,  for  the  baser 
as  well  as  the  nobler  passions.  The  new  liberty  was  made  an 
"occasion  to  the  flesh"  as  well  as  an  open  door  to  service  in  love. 
There  were  outbreaks  of  both  social  and  religious  fanaticism, 
agitators  who  were  agitators  only,  "Zwickau  prophets,"  the  War 
of  the  Nobles,  the  War  of  the  Peasants,  a  throwing  off  of  the 
restraints  of  law  both  human  and  divine.  What  wonder  if  it 
should  awaken  doubt  and  fear  in  the  order-loving  heart?  "The 
aspect  of  Germany,"  said  Luther,  "has  never  been  more  pitiful 
than  it  is  now." 

But  the  point  to  be  accentuated  is  that  this  violation  of  law 
and  order  was  no  proper  part  of  the  reformatory  movement.  It 
went  dead  against  the  will  and  teaching  of  the  great  Protestant 
leaders.  It  was  such  a  turbulence  as  may  be  expected  to  attend 
for  a  time  the  breaking  up  of  an  old  order  and  the  attempt  to  in- 
troduce and  maintain  a  new.  Let  England  in  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward VI.  and  America  after  the  War  of  the  Revolution  bear 
witness.  There  will  be  temporary  evil  when  one's  house  is  torn 
down  before  the  constructive  work  can  be  done  upon  the  house 
that  is  to  take  its  place.  As  promptly  as  possible,  therefore,  the 
Reformation  must  indeed  re-form  the  Church,  the  house  of  re- 
ligion. It  must  give  it,  among  other  things,  a  symmetrical, 
strong,  and  rightly  constituted  government.  And  this  the  pres- 
byteral  system  promised. 

Calvin  could  bear  no  haziness  in  his  thinking — as  unlike  as 
possible  the  group  of  theologians  described  by  Milton,  who  rea- 
soned and  argued  on  foreknowledge,  fate,  and  the  like  high 
themes, 

And  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost. 
15 


226  Christianity  as  Organised 

Calvin,  even  as  a  young  and  immature  theologian,  "found  an 
end."  He  mapped  out  the  whole  course  of  his  thought.  Hence 
we  do  not  find  him  indulging  in  mere  verbalisms,  nor  making  an 
idol  of  phrases,  nor  satisfying  himself  with  throwing  out  vague 
and  symbolic  words  at  his  objects  of  research.  All  must  be  ex- 
act, well  adjusted,  unified — every  nebula  resolved  into  its  con- 
stituent stars  or  else  disregarded.  Thus  the  Visible  Catholic 
Church  became  to  Calvin  a  clearly  defined  concejjtion,  and  he 
would  have  it  organized  after  a  clearly  defined  pattern.  He 
made  mucli  of  church  membership  and  discipline.  Outside  the 
Church  there  was  no  salvation;^  inside  there  must  be  systematic 
supervision  and  enforced  authority.  The  true  Church  might 
be  known  by  its  scriptural  "notes,"  and  though  here  and  there 
"enveloped  in  some  cloud  of  ignorance,"  and  liable  to  err  on  non- 
essential points,  was  infallible  "in  things  essential  to  salvation."* 
When  it  spoke  there  was  nothing  left  for  its  member  but  to  obey. 
As  to  the  weight  of  emphasis  upon  this  obedience,  there  is  scarce- 
ly an  appreciable  difference  between  Calvin  and  Rome.  A  very 
narrow  margin,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  left  for  "the  freedom 
of  the  Christian  man." 

The  model  for  his  system  of  government,  considered  simply 
as  an  authoritative  presbyteral  supervision,  Calvin  found  in  the 
Scriptures.  The  additions  thereto,  with  the  animating  "aris- 
tocratic" or  legal  spirit,  were  his  own.  Though  Calvin  would 
have  added  nothing  except  under  what  he  fully  believed  to  be 
due  warrant  of  the  Old  or  the  New  Testament.  He  would  have 
died  first. 

Thus,  through  Calvin  and  his  followers,  there  has  been  re- 
stored to  the  Church  a  ruling  presbyterate,  which,  tenacious  of 
its  fundamental  principles  yet  free  to  modify  its  forms,  has  wit- 
nessed well  through  generations  and  centuries  for  righteousness, 
order,  and  good  government. 

Presbytery  is  reverent,  loyal,  self-possessed.  It  would  bow 
the  knee  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  one  King  in  Zion,  whose 

^Institutes,   IV.,  i.  4.  "Institutes,  IV.,  viii.   13. 


Presbyter:  Later  Office  227 

unshared  dominion  endures  forever.  It  would  oppose  the  least 
encroachment  of  sacerdotal  delusion  and  tyranny — though  not 
successful  at  all  times  in  keeping  itself  clear  of  tyrannical  ex- 
actions. Through  its  representative  courts  it  would  guard  the 
rights  of  the  people,  while  at  the  same  time  avoiding  the  uncer*- 
tainties  of  a  pure  democracy. 

It  has  sometimes  made  alliance  with  the  State — as,  for  in- 
stance, in  Switzerland  and  Scotland — which  can  be  but  poorly 
reconciled  with  its  continual  confession  of  Christ's  sole  headship 
of  the  Church ;  but  the  direction  of  its  influence  upon  civil  gov- 
ernment, on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  has  been  uniformity  to- 
ward authority  without  tyranny  and  liberty  without  license.  The 
roll  of  its  witnesses  for  religious  freedom  is  long  and  brilliant. 

In  almost  all  the  other  Protestant  Christian  communions,  the 
presbyterate  is  a  purely  clerical  office.  The  lay  element  in  the 
Church's  government  is  introduced  in  other  forms  than  that  of 
the  "ruling  elder."  There  is  only  the  "teaching  elder,"  who,  how- 
ever, as  in  Presbyterianism,  is  also  a  ruler — ^the  fully  authorized 
preacher  in  the  pulpit,  administrator  of  the  sacraments,  pastor 
of  the  people,  presiding  officer  of  the  church. 


VIII. 

UNITY:   THE  BISHOP— EARLY  DEVELOPMENT  OF 

HIS  OFFICE. 

In  the  presbyter  we  have  met  with  the  universal  represent- 
ative of  church  order.  We  are  now  to  study  one  of  the  im- 
phcations  of  this  order — namely,  unity,  as  exemplified  in  the 
office  which  most  perfectly  sets  it  forth. 

In  fact,  order  of  all  kinds  implies  unity,  and  is  in  its  ultimate 
idea  personal.  Things  tliat  are  arranged — be  they  bricks  in  a 
wall,  dishes  on  a  dinner  table,  or  words  in  a  sentence — are  ar- 
ranged according  to  some  principle  and  by  some  person.  They 
must  take  their  places  under  this  unitary  control,  else  there  will 
be  confusion  and  conflict. 

The  striving  of  all  philosophic  minds  is  toward  the  One.  All 
tlie  way  along,  from  the  dawn  of  speculative  inquiry  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  this  has  been  the  line  of  interpretative  thought  con- 
cerning the  universe.  Its  outcome  is  theistic.  Only  in  the  Eter- 
nal Reason  can  the  restless  human  reason  find  rest. 

If,  then,  God  is  one  and  has  made  all  things  to  have  oneness 
in  himself,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  man,  in  his  mul- 
tifarious doings,  should,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  be  guided 
by  a  similar  principle  of  unity.  For  is  he  not  made  in  God's 
image,  and  intended  to  do  the  works  of  his  Father?  It  was  the 
perfect  Son,  in  whom  the  Father  was  well  pleased,  who  said : 
"The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Fa- 
ther doing,  .  .  .  for  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  show- 
eth  him  all  things  that  himself  doeth.'"  But  something  of  what 
he  himself  doeth  the  heavenly  Father  shows  to  every  man.  "Be 
ye  imitators  of  God  as  beloved  children."  To  do  this  volun- 
tarily and  in  the  highest  things  is  human  perfection;  for  it  is  to 
"walk  in  love,  even  as  Christ  also  loved.""     To  do  it  uncon- 


*John  V.   T9,  20.  "Eph.  v.   i,  2. 

(228) 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Development  229 

sciously  and  in  the  lower  spheres  of  action  is  a  human  neces- 
sity. 

AccorcHngly  we  find  men,  taught  of  God,  following  after  unity 
in  all  their  undertakings,  practical,  artistic,  intellectual.  To 
l)uild  a  dwelling  house  is  to  gather  all  its  diverse  materials  and 
component  parts  about  the  one  commanding  idea  of  occupancy 
by  a  family.  To  paint  a  picture  is  to  subject  all  the  forms  and 
colors  that  are  put  upon  the  canvass  to  the  one  ruling  concep- 
tion, whatever  it  may  l)e,  in  the  artist's  mind.  Similarly  in  any 
work  of  utility,  of  art,  or  of  thought,  the  mind,  while  pleased 
indeed  at  variety,  is  offended  at  disorder.  Instinctively  it  feels 
after  the  unifying  idea. 

I.  The  Principle  of  Unity  in  Societies — in  the  Church. 

It  is  thoroughly  rational,  therefore,  that  in  those  greatest  and 
most  powerful  of  human  creations,  the  various  societies  that 
men  form  among  themselves,  some  principle  of  unity  should  be 
followed.  It  is  follow^ed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  every  instance 
— from  that  of  the  feeblest  sorority  to  that  of  the  mightiest 
world  power.  And  it  will  take  form  most  probably  in  a  single 
personal  representative.  When  we  speak  of  a  nation  as  the 
"body  politic,"  it  is  a  very  significant  term  that  is  used.  In  an 
animal  body  the  members  are  very  far  from  being  all  on  tlie 
same  level  of  authority  and  power ;  the  arm,  for  instance,  con- 
trols the  fingers  and  can  put  them  where  it  will.  But  the  head, 
which  is  the  seat  of  the  brain,  which  is  the  throne  of  the  soul, 
controls  all :  in  the  head  the  whole  body  is  unified.  And  in  like 
manner  a  nation,  whatever  its  forms  of  legislation  or  adminis- 
tration, finds  its  external,  representative  unity  in  its  one  supreme 
ruler.  Hence  the  tremendous  power  which  it  often  permits,  or 
even  requires,  him  to  wield.  What  is  the  President  of  the  United 
States  ?  Probably  neither  a  soldier  nor  a  sailor.  Yet  in  time  of 
war  he  is  made  commander  in  chief  of  both  army  and  navy. 
One  is  better  than  many — a  single  headship  is  what  the  nation 
calls  for. 


230  Christianity  as  Organized 

It  is  so,  too,  with  similar  bodies  of  men,  such  as  municipal  or 
industrial  or  social  organizations.  It  is  so  in  a  school — one  prin- 
cipal ;  and  in  a  Sunday  school — one  superintendent.  It  was  so 
in  the  Grjeco-Roman  cities,  when  the  first  Christian  congrega- 
tions were  gathered  there/  It  is  so  even  in  such  organizations 
as  are  formed  for  a  temporary  purpose  or  a  single  occasion.  Any 
public  meeting  called  for  the  transaction  of  important  business 
will  begin  by  the  election  of  a  chairman.  A  committee  will  do 
the  same.  A  jury  of  twelve  freemen  and  peers  will  choose  a 
foreman. 

Now  the  application  of  this  principle  to  the  subject  in  hand 
is  quite  obvious.  Unquestionably  organized  Christianity  will 
ever  find  its  unifying  truth  in  the  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That 
of  which  we  have  now  to  take  note  is  of  infinitely  smaller  im- 
port, and  yet  not  lacking  in  interest.  It  is  the  minor  and  visible 
unity  of  a  single  Christian  congregation. 

Any  organized  local  church  will  call  for  a  presiding  officer. 
No  prophetic  insight  would  be  necessary  to  predict  this  result. 
Whether  more  than  one  church,  whether  all  churches  the  world 
over,  shall  be  united  under  a  single  officer,  or  under  a  general 
government  in  any  form,  is  a  similar  question,  but  not  the  same. 
It  is  analogous  to  the  question  as  to  how  many  nations,  or  how 
many  industrial,  or  educational,  or  literary  societies,  shall  be 
thus  united.  It  may  come  up  for  some  consideration  later. 
What  we  have  now  to  think  of  is  the  local  congregation. 

But  let  us  not  expect  to  see  this  principle  illustrated  to  any 
notable  extent  in  the  New  Testament  churches,  because  their 
organic  development  as  yet  was  incomplete.     So,  for  the  most 

^"Whether  we  look  at  the  municipal  councils,  at  the  private  associations, 
religious  and  secular,  with  which  the  East  was  honeycombed,  at  the  pro- 
vincial assemblies,  at  the  boards  of  magistrates,  at  the  administrative  coun- 
cils of  the  Jews  both  in  Palestine  and  in  the  countries  of  the  Dispersion,  or 
at  the  committees  of  the  municipal  councils  whose  members  sometimes  bore, 
in  common  with  the  Christian  and  the  Jewish  councils,  the  name  of  elders 
[npea(ihTEpoi\  we  find  in  every  case  evidence  of  a  presiding  officer."  (Hatch, 
"Organization  of  the  Early  Christian  Churches,"  p.  85.) 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Development  231 

part,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  attained  unto  a  single  personal 
headship,  but  were  supervised  by  a  council  of  coequal  presbyters. 
In  Jerusalem,  indeed,  it  was  not  altogether  so ;  for  James,  the 
brother  of  our  Lord,  was  recognized  there  as  standing  in  some 
relation  of  headship  [n  the  church.'  In  certain  other  cases,  it 
may  be.  the  need  of  a  president  would  be  supplied  by  the  over- 
sight of  an  Apostle,  or  of  an  apostolic  delegate/  The  Corin- 
thians, for  example,  would  have  no  occasion  to  choose  another 
chief  pastor  during  the  year  and  a  half  that  Paul,  their  apostolic 
founder,  spent  among  them.  Even  in  time  of  absence  he  could 
be  "present"  with  them  still  by  letters  and  messages,  and  *'in 
spirit.'"  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  generally  speaking,  the 
highest  officers  in  the  churches  of  the  first  two  generations  of 
Christians  were  a  number  of  coordinate  presbyters. 

Passing  now  into  the  sub-apostolic  age,  we  find  the  same  thing 
to  be  true.  Not  the  slightest  hint  is  given,  either  by  Clement  of 
Rome  or  by  the  Didache  or  by  the  "Pastor"  of  Hennas  or  by 
Polycarp,  of  a  single  episcopate,  or  pastorate.  "The  Apostles," 
says  Clement,  "appointed  the  first  fruits  of  their  labors  to  be 
bishops  and  deacons  of  those  who  should  afterwards  believe ;" 
and  the  presbyters  in  the  church  at  Corinth  he  classes  with  these 
"bishops."*  "Appoint  for  yourselves,"  says  the  Didache,  "bish- 
ops and  deacons.""  "The  old  woman  [the  Church]  came  and 
asked  me,"  says  Hermas.  "if  I  had  given  the  book  to  the  pres- 
byters,    .     .     .     and  then  she  said But  you  will  read 

the  words  in  this  city,  along  with  the  presbyters  zvho  preside  over 

^Acts  xxi.  18;  Gal.  ii.  9,  12. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  James  exercised  any  prelatic  powers. 
The  evidence  shows  him  to  have  been  a  presiding  officer,  but  nothing  more. 
When  the  Antiochians  had  made  up  their  contribution  to  the  church  in 
Jerusalem,  they  sent  it  by  the  hand  of  Barnabas  and  Saul  not  to  James  but 
"to  the  elders."  (Acts  xi.  30.)  And  when  they  were  in  doubt  as  to  the 
conditions  on  which  to  receive  Gentile  converts  into  the  Church,  they  sent 
their  deputation  "to  Jerusalem,  unto  the  Apostles  and  elders  about  this  ques- 
tion"— James  being  a  member  of  the  council.     (Acts  xv.  2.) 

'i  Tim.  i.  3;  Titus  i.  5.  ''"To  Corinthians,"  42,  44. 

'i  Cor.  V.  ^Didache,   15. 


232  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  Church."''  "Wherefore/'  says  Polycarp  to  the  church  at 
PhiHppi,  "it  is  needful  to  abstain  from  all  these  things,  being 
subject  to  the  presb5'ters  and  deacons'" — the  same  two  classes 
of  officers  addressed  by  the  Apostle,  about  forty  years  before, 
in  his  letter  to  this  same  Philippian  church."  Certainly  with  re- 
spect to  the  churches  represented  by  these  several  writings  the 
proof  of  a  plural  overseership  is  as  clear  and  concurrent  as 
could  be  asked  for  any  such  historic  fact. 

2.  Beginnings  of  the  Single  Congregational  Episcopate. 

But  before  the  close  of  this  period  (say,  150  a.d.)  there  is  a 
new  development  to  be  noted.  Indications  and  evidences  of  a 
single  congregational  bishop  appear.  Justin  Martyr  (d.  ca.  165), 
describing  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  says :  "The  pres- 
ident in  like  manner  offers  prayers  and  thanksgivings, 
and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with  the  president.''''  This 
president  of  the  meeting  was  perhaps  in  a  larger  sense  president 
of  the  congregation. 

And  in  the  recently  published  "Sources  of  the  Apostolic 
Canons" — supposed  to  represent  certain  localities  toward  the 
close  of  the  second  century — we  come  upon  direct  evidence  of 
the  same  office.  The  qualifications  of  the  bishop  are  described. 
Even  a  very  small  congregation  is  to  have  its  bishop  (pastor)  — 
as  in  our  own  day.  He  is  to  be  chosen  by  the  "competent" 
voters  of  the  congregation;  and  if  there  be  not  as  many  as  twelve 
such  voters,  the  neighboring  churches  are  to  be  written  to  and 
asked  to  send  three  selected  men  to  assist  in  the  examination  of 
the  brother  proposed  for  the  episcopal,  or  pastoral,  office.''  What 
now  are  the  bishop's  functions?  His  place  is  at  the  altar,  as 
leader  of  the  congregational  worship;  and  the  offerings  of  the 

Wis.   II.  4.  "'To   Philippians,"  5. 

®"The  blessed  and  glorified  Paul,  .  .  .  when  absent  from  you,  he 
wrote  you   a  letter."     ("To   Philippians,"  3.) 

*First  Apol.,  67. 

^"Sources  of  Apostolic  Canons,"  A.  i.  (Edited  by  Harnack,  E.  T.,  pp. 
7-10.) 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Development  233 

people  are  placed  in  his  hands  for  distribution/  And  it  would 
seem  that  he  is  to  be  the  chief  representative  of  the  church  to 
outsiders — at  any  rate,  one  of  his  required  qualifications  is 
that  he  shall  have  "a  good  report  among  the  heathen."^  But 
the  real  rulers  of  the  congregation  are  the  presbyters.  They  are 
to  see  that  order  is  observed  in  the  meeting,^  to  them  the  widows 
are  to  report/  and  they  even  exercise  a  supervision  over  the 
bishop's  action  in  the  distribution  of  the  offerings/ 

Here,  then,  is  an  interesting  and  valuable  bit  of  information. 
A  single  bishop  presiding  in  the  congregation,  distributing  the 
gifts,  representing  the  church  to  the  outside  world;  yet  with  the 
whole  congregation,  himself  included,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  presbyters.  It  is  a  transitional  step  toward  the  monarchical, 
or  independent,  congregational  episcopate — as  advocated  by  Ig- 
natius of  Antioch. 

3.  Completer  Development  of  this  Episcopate. 

Let  us  then  open  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius.  At  once  a  very 
different  picture  from  any  we  have  yet  seen  is  put  upon  the  can- 
vass. Three  separate  and  distinct  orders,  or  offices,  are  recog- 
nized in  the  ministry  of  all  the  churches,  with  one  exception 
(significantly,  the  Church  of  Rome),  to  which  these  letters  are 
sent — namely,  that  of  deacons,  of  presbyters,  of  bishop.  All 
these  are  to  be  honored  as  institutions  of  God ;  and  the  pre- 
dominant divine  idea  for  which  the  bishop  stands  is  that  of 
unity. 

'"Sources  of  Apostolic  Canons,"  A.  2.  ^Ibid.,  A.  2. 

"Ibid..  A.  I.  *Ihid.,  A.  5. 

''Ibid.,  A.  2. 

"Thus  may  it  be  paraphrased :  'The  presbyters  are  to  provide  for  the 
bishop  at  the  table  of  gifts,  in  order  that  they  may  distribute  the  gifts  (to 
the  various  persons  needing  them  and  entitled  to  them),  and  themselves 
receive  the  necessary  contributions  (that  is,  as  far  as  it  is  necessary).'  It  is 
consequently  a  question  of  a  kind  of  control  by  the  presbyters  over  the 
management  of  the  gifts  by  the  bishop,  in  order  that  everything  may  be  done 
orderly."     {Ibid.,  p.  13,  n.) 


234  Christianity  as  Organised 

Ignatius  himself  was  bishop — the  one  bishop — of  Antioch  in 
Syria.  Condemned  in  tliat  city  to  be  thrown  to  the  Hons  of  the 
Roman  ampliitheater,  he  embraces  the  opportunity  to  write  let- 
ters to  \'anous  churches  on  his  triumphal  march  (as  it  was,  in 
his  estimation)  to  the  imperial  city.  We  know  nothing  with 
certaiiity  of  Ignatius'  life  and  character  except  what  is  shown 
in  these  epistles.  But  in  them  he  is  recognizable  as  a  noble  and 
striking  personality — not  well  equipoised  perhaps,  an  extremist, 
but  humble,  bold,  enthusiastic,  of  a  spiritual  mind,  absolutely 
loyal  to  his  Lord.  He  writes  with  a  pen  of  fire.  Having  been 
adjudged  to  death  for  Christ's  sake,  he  is  eager  for  the  stroke 
to  fall.  His  bonds  are  "spiritual  jewels,"  because  they  promise 
contact  wnth  beasts  at  Rome,  through  which  bloody  gate  he  shall 
pass  to  wear  the  martyr's  crown. 

Nor  did  Ignatius  regard  his  own  death  only  as  imminent,  but 
also  the  end  of  the  workf — an  idea  that  seems  to  have  prevailed 
almost  universally  in  the  Ante-Nicene  age.  The  earth  was  near- 
ing  its  death-throes.  Christ  would  soon  come  in  glory  to  over- 
throw the  wicked  and  set  up  his  universal  kingdom.  "The  last 
times,"  Ignatius  says,  "are  upon  us ;"  "Weigh  carefully  the  times, 
look  for  Him  who  is  above  all  time,  eternal  and  invisible,  yet 
who  became  visible  for  our  sakes."^  And  what  was  the  result  of 
Ignatius'  own  weighing  of  the  times?  An  overpowering  con- 
viction of  the  need  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  The  churches  were 
not  united  as  they  ought  to  have  been.  False  teaching — Judaiz- 
ing,  Doketism — faction,  schism,  evil  tempers  were  arising  to 
threaten  their  integrity.  So  the  demand  for  unity  was  impera- 
tive, and  the  visible  center  and  representative  of  that  unity  was 
the  bishop.  Hence  entire  and  unquestioning  obedience  to  the 
bishop  must  be  insisted  on ;  and  it  is  insisted  on,  chapter  after 
chapter,  in  epistle  after  epistle.  Indeed,  this  claim  of  subjection 
to  episcopal,  or  pastoral,  authority  passes  all  reasonable  bounds, 
and  becomes  preposterous,  if  not  profane.     "He  who  does  any- 

'To  the  Ephesians,   ii.  *To   Polycarp,   3. 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Dcz'clopiiicnf  235 

thing  without  the  knowledg-e  of  his  bishop."  writes  the  rapt  and 
impetuous  pen,  "does  serve  the  devil.'" 

Not  tlie  most  devoted  EpiscopaHan  of  an  evangeHcal  church 
in  the  present  day  could  for  a  moment  acknowledge  the  authority 
of  such  a  lord  of  the  congregation  as  the  Tgnatian  bishop. 
Imagine  the  txpe  to  have  become  universal — every  Christian 
congregation  in  the  world  ruled  bv  a  pastor  who  was  under  no 
ecclesiastical  authority  whatever  and  who  was  himself  absolutely 
autocratic.  Is  there  anywhere  on  earth  to-day  an  Tgnatian  in 
belief? 

It  must  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  Ignatius  looked  upon 
the  bishop  as  alone  to  be  reverenced  and  obeyed.  For  he  re- 
|)eatedly  joins  the  presbyters  with  him  as  oflicers  to  whom  also 
the  submission  of  the  Christian  community  is  due. 

It  was  the  poivcr  of  government  for  which  Ignatius  stood. 
1'hat  was  the  idea  that  possessed  him.  When  he  refers  to  the 
heavenly  things,  for  example,  it  is  not  to  streets  of  gold  and 
fountains  of  living  water,  but  to  "the  places  of  the  angels,  and 
their  gathering  under  their  respective  princes."  So  in  a  Chris-, 
tian  congregation,  which  should  be  a  miniature  heaven  of  order, 
peace,  and  obedience,  he  would  have  official  authority  to  be 
strong,  unimpeachable,  absolute.  This  he  thoroughly  believed 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  Church  in  those  perilous 
times,  or,  for  that  matter,  perhaps  in  any  time — if  other  times 
were  to  be.  "See  that  ye  obey  the  bishop,"  he  said,  ''and  the 
presbytery  with  an  undivided  heart. """  But  the  bishop  imper- 
sonated this  power  of  government  in  the  congregation  as  did 

^To  the  Smymseans,  9. 

"Subject  to  the  bishop  as  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  to  the  presbyters  as  to 
the  law  of  Jesus  Christ."  (To  the  Magnesians,  2.)  "It  is  manifest,  there- 
fore, that  we  should  look  upon  the  bishop  even  as  we  would  look  upon  the 
Lord  himself."     (To  the   Ephesians,  6.) 

So  a  marriage  contracted  without  "the  approval  of  the  bishop"  was  held 
by  Ignatius  to  be  not  "according  to  God."     (Ep.  to  Polj'^carp,  5.) 

^To  the  Ephesians,  20;  To  the  Trallians,  3,  7. 

"For  Ignatius  the  authority  of  the  bishop,  of  the  presbyters,  and  of  the 
deacons,  forms  in  some  sort  an  inseparable  whole,  a  harmony  of  spiritual 
forces,  a  nattern  of  the  unity  which  ought  to  reign  among  tbe  fn-'thful.     He 


236  Christianity  as  Organised 

no  mere  presbyter  or  board  of  presbyters — as  did  no  other  living- 
man.  Therefore,  without  hesitation  or  complaint,  all  should 
submit  themselves  to  him. 

Now  these  singularly  overwrought  views  of  pastoral  power 
were  not  uncongenial  to  the  sacerdotalism  that  later  gained  com- 
plete ascendency  in  the  Church.  In  scriptural  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity, however,  they  could  not  hope  to  maintain  themselves. 
So  far  from  securing  unity,  they  would  disturb  and  divide.  But 
the  single  episcopate  itself,  which  Ignatius  is  the  first  writer  in 
the  whole  body  of  Christian  literature  to  set  forth,  became  uni- 
versal and  has  been  perpetuated.  \11  churches  have  it.  Indeed, 
was  not  such  a  result  inevitable?  For  this  episcopate  is  simply 
the  office  of  pastor,  preacher  in  charge,  rector  of  the  local  con- 
gregation. 

Let  us  be  careful,  also,  in  passing  from  the  letters  of  Ignatius, 
not  ourselves  to  exaggerate  the  significance  of  his  exaggerated 
view  of  congregational  obedience  to  tlie  pastor.  Three  things 
may  here  be  noted  in  connection  with  this  Ignatian  episcopal 
idea:  (i)  His  dream  of  the  mystic  personality  of  the  bishop, 
with  its  over-emphasis  of  pastoral  authority,  was  his  own,  rea- 
sonably explicable  on  the  ground  of  personal  temperament  and 
circumstances;  and  hence  it  should  not  be  taken  as  expressing 
the  general  view  and  practice  of  the  churches;'  (2)  he  was  not 

does  not  imagine  that  discord  can  enter  in  among  them :  they  are  for  him 
the  government,  Authority  with  a  capital  A.  .  .  .  The  demands  of  Igna- 
tius in  favor  of  episcopal  authority  are  still  more  demands  in  favor  of 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  of  authority  in  itself  than  in  favor  of  the  bishop 
properly  speaking  to  the  detriment  of  the  other  officers  of  the  Christian 
societies."     (Reville,  "Les  Origines  de  L'Episcopat,"  pp.  495.  497) 

^'The  same  exclusive  passion  which  he  brought  to  the  love  of  suffering 
and  the  seeking  for  martyrdom  he  brought  also  to  the  extolling  of  that 
which  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  the  churches — 
submission  to  the  episcopacy.  But  a  calm  analysis  of  even  his  own  testimony 
proves  that  the  reality  was  very  far  from  corresponding  to  his  dream,  and 
that  if  he  is  compelled  to  insist  with  so  much  energy  upon  obedience  to  ec- 
clesiastical government,  it  is  because  the  churches  themselves  which  he  ad- 
dresses are  still  very  far  from  putting  it  into  practice."  (Reville,  "Les 
Origines  de  L'Episcopat,"  p.  481.) 

Cf.  Ramsay,  "Church  in  Roman  Empire."  pp.  370,  371. 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Development  237 

so  much  the  champion  of  the  single  as  opposed  to  the  phiral  pas- 
torship of  a  church  as  of  the  fact  rather  than  tlie  form  of  abso- 
lute official  authority;  (3)  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  single  pastor- 
ship was  not  universal  at  this  time,  but  confined  apparently  to 
the  churches  of  Asia. 

At  the  beginning-  a  democratic  congregational  gOA'ernment 
with  a  board  of  presbyters  as  overseers  (bishops)  ;  then  a  board 
of  presbyters  as  rulers,  with  a  bishop  as  president  of  the  congre- 
gation ;  and  then  the  single  bishop  as  ruler — such  is  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  episcopate  in  the  local  congregation. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  it  is  not  certain  that  all 
the  churches  passed  through  all  three  of  these  stages  of  devel- 
opment. And  even  if  they  did,  it  is  quite  certain  that  they  did 
not  pass  through  them  contemporaneously.  In  some  cases  the 
process  was  much  more  rapid  than  in  others.  Especially  should 
it  be  noticed  that  while  in  the  churches  of  Asia,  as  represented 
by  the  Ignatian  epistles,  the  rule  of  the  single  bishop  was  at 
least  in  course  of  establishment  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  second 
century,  it  was  not  yet  established  in  the  churches  represented 
by  the  "Sources  of  the  Apostolic  Canons"  even  as  late  as  about 
fifty  years  thereafter. 

4,  The  Iren^an  Conception  of  the  Bishop^s  Office. 

Toward  the  close  of  the -second  century  a  different  conception 
of  the  episcopal  office  was  taught  by  Irenjeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons. 
We  shall  be  prepared  for  an  appreciation  of  it,  if  we  remember 
that  meantime  heretical  teachings  had  increased  and  multiplied. 
They  had  "come  in  like  locusts  to  devour  the  harvests  of  the 
gospel."  Perhaps  the  most  irrational,  and  certainly  the  most 
powerful,  of  the  heretics  were  the  Gnostics,  in  confutation  of 
whom  Irenreus  wrote  his  great  book  "Against  the  Heresies." 

Let  it  also  be  remembered  that  as  yet  there  was  no  formally 
recognized  canon  of  the  Xew  Testament  Scriptures.  And,  more- 
over, the  Gnostics  were  claiming  to  have  in  their  own  possession 


238  Christianity  as  Organized 

apostolic  writings'  and  also  traditions,  "secret  teachings,"  which 
set  forth  the  true  faith  of  the  gospel.  How,  then,  were  the  Chris- 
tian people  to  be  effectually  safeguarded  against  false  teaching? 
It  was  no  alarmist's  cry.  There  was  a  very  real  danger— greater 
than  in  the  time  of  Ignatius.  In  fact,  there  was  more  than  any 
mere  danger,  however  great;  for  the  work  of  disintegration  had 
actually  begun  in  Christian  communities.  The  subtle  forces  of 
error  were  already  making  encroachment  and  conquest.  There 
seemed  no  hope  of  successfully  resisting  them  except  with  a  firm 
and  united  front.  There  must  be  unity  of  belief  and  of  action. 
Let  the  lines  be  drawn  and  the  Catholic  Church  distinctly  made 
known  as  opposed  to  heretics  and  schismatics. 

But  here  arose  a  vital  cjuestion.  There  could  be  no  doctrinal 
unity  without  some  standard  of  orthodoxy.  What,  then,  was 
this  standard,  and  how  might  it  be  recognized  and  maintained  ? 

Irenaeus'  answer  to  such  questions  was  that  the  true  doctrine 
mie-ht  be  found  in  the  churches  that  had  existed  in  various  coun- 
tries  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  It  had  been  committed  to 
them  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  especially  to  the  presbyters,  or 
bishops' — he  seems  to  use  the  two  terms  interchangeably,  or  at 
least  to  call  the  bishops  presbyters'" — and  transmitted  by  them  to 
the  generations  following. 

Now  the  presbyters  of  these  successive  generations  were  chief- 

^Such,  c.  g..  were  "The  Gospel  of  the  Truth,"  in  the  possession  of  the 
Valentinian  sect,  and  Marcion's  Gospel,  which  was  a  mutilated  copy  of  the 
genuine  "Gospel  According  to  Luke"— the  parts  which  Marcion  regarded  as 
Judaic  rather  than  Pauline  being  omitted. 

''"The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  from  me  among  many  witnesses,  the 
same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also." 
(2  Tim.  ii.  2.) 

'"The  tradition  which  is  of  the  Apostles,  which  is  guarded  by  the  suc- 
cession of  the  presbyters."  ("Against  Heresies,"  111.  2,  2.)  "We  are  able 
to  recount  those  whom  the  Apostles  appointed  to  be  bishops  in  the  churches, 
and  their  successors."  (fbid..  111.  3.  i.)  ".A.nd  her  [the  Roman  Church's] 
faith  proclaimed  unto  men  by  the  succession  of  bishops."  (Ibid.,  III.  3.  2.) 
"Cleave  to  those  who  both  guard,  as  we  said  before,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Apostles,  and  with  their  order  as  presbyters  exhibit  such  speech,"  etc.  (Ibid., 
IV.  26,  4.) 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Developincnt  239 

ly  old  men,  "elders"  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word;  for  it  was 
the  mature  or  elderly  men  that  would  naturally  be  chosen,  and  the 
office  was  for  life.  So  the  aged  presbyter  might  be  pictured  as 
handing  on,  before  he  should  "go  hence  and  be  no  more,"  the 
tradition  of  apostolic  teaching,  which  he  himself  had  learned  in 
youth  from  some  aged  predecessor. 

Irenreus  himself  was  such  an  "elder."  In  his  early  days  in 
Asia  he  had  even  known  men  who  had  known  Apostles;  he  had 
been  a  friend  and  pupil  of  Polycarp,  who  had  been  a  friend  and 
pupil  of  the  Apostle  John.'  So  it  was  a  chain  of  but  three  links 
— the  .\postle  John,  the  martyr  Polycarp,  the  bishop  Irenieus : 
only  a  single  intermediate  link  between  Ireuieus  and  the  disciple 
that  leaned  upon  Jesus'  breast  at  the  Last  Supper.  Or,  to  mark 
the  successive  dates,  we  may  think  of  our  Lord  as  speaking  his 
last  words  to  the  disciples,  and  sending  them  out  into  all  the 
world  as  his  witnesses,  about  the  year  30  of  our  era ;  of  the 
disciple  John  in  Ephesus  at  the  close  of  his  life,  about  the  year 
100;  of  Polycarp  in  Smyrna,  about  the  year  155;  of  Irenaeus  in 
Lyons,  about  the  year  202.  Here,  distinctly  traceable,  was  a 
succession  of  evangelic  witnesses  from  the  very  days  of  Jesus, 
sending  down  the  word  of  oral  testimony  through  five  genera- 
tions of  Christian  believers. 

But  it  could  not  always  continue  so.  As  the  oncoming  years 
kept  pushing  the  apostolic  age  farther  and  farther  back  into  the 
shadow-land  of  antiquity,  this  line  of  testimony  would  be  seri- 
ously weakened.  What  should  take  its  place?  The  answer  of 
our  age  would  be :  Scholarship — not  tradition,  but  the  original 
documents,  the  apostolic  writings,  are  the  rule  of  faith ;  and 
these  must  be  vouched  for  by  New  Testament  scholars.  The 
answer  of  that  age,  however,  as  uttered  by  Irenaeus,  was  one 

'"For  when  I  was  a  boy  I  saw  thee  fFlorinus,  a  presbyter  of  the  church 
at  Rome]  in  lower  Asia  with  Polycarp,  moving  in  splendor  in  the  royal 
court.  ...  I  am  able  to  describe  the  very  place  in  which  the  blessed 
Polycarp  sat  as  he  discoursed,  .  .  .  and  the  accounts  which  he  gave 
of  his  intercourse  with  John  and  with  the  others  who  had  seen  the  Lord." 
(Irenaeus,  quoted  in   Eusebius,  H.   E.,  v.  20.) 


240  Christianity  as  Organised 

that  could  be  much  more  easily  grasped  and  utilized :  The  bish- 
ops, he  said,  are  the  official  conservators  of  both  the  apostolic 
writings  and  traditions.  They  were  able  to  vouch  for  the  true 
apostolic  doctrine,  delivered  to  them  through  the  presbyteral  suc- 
cession, to  be  delivered  by  them  in  turn  to  those  who  should  suc- 
ceed to  their  places,  and  so  on  through  the  generations  of  time. 

Here,  then,  were  the  official  custodians  and  interpreters  of 
apostolic  teaching.  But  what  if  they  should  make  mistakes  con- 
cerning it?  This  was  a  difficulty  with  which  Irenasus  did  not 
directly  deal.  But  he  did  suggest  that  the  bishops  were  super- 
naturally  illumined,  so  that  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  they 
would  make  mistakes.  In  virtue  of  their  office  they  received 
from  the  Holy  Spirit  a  gift  of  insight — a  "sure  gift  of  the 
truth" — through  which  they  would  be  able  to  recognize  a  gen- 
uine apostolic  writing  or  tradition.  He  speaks  but  vaguely  and 
imcertainly,  it  is  true,  about  this  episcopal  gift — as  well  he 
might.'  But  at  any  rate  the  bishops  are  to  be  acknowledged  and 
trusted  as  the  bond  of  orthodoxy,  the  guarantors  of  the  faith, 
the  duly  qualified  teachers  of  the  Church.'' 

'The  passages  (the  only  two,  so  far  as  T  know)  in  which  this  special 
power  of  discerning  the  truth  seems  to  be  claimed  for  the  chief  officers  of 
the  churches  are  the  following :  "Wherefore  we  should  hearken  to  the  pres- 
byters who  are  in  the  Church ;  those  who  have  their  succession  from  the 
Apostles,  as  we  have  pointed  out ;  who  with  their  succession  in  the  epis- 
copate received  a  sure  gift  of  the  truth  (certum  charisma  vcritatis),  at  the 
good  pleasure  of  the  Father."  ("Against  Heresies,"  IV.  26,  2.)  "Now 
where  one  may  find  such  [good  presbyters]  Paul  teaches,  saying,  'God  hath 
set  some  in  the  Church,  first  Apostles,  then  prophets,  thirdly  teachers.' 
Then  where  the  Lord's  free  gifts  are  set,  there  we  must  learn  the  truth.'' 
(Ibid.,  IV.  26,  5.)  In  this  latter  passage  Irenjeus  apparently  has  in  mind 
the  charismata  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  supposes  the  charisma  veritatis  to 
be  one  of  them,  and  to  be  possessed  by  the  presbyters  (and  here  he  prob- 
ably means  specifically  the  bishops)  of  his  own  day. 

^Of  course  I  am  here  quoting,  not  indorsing,  Iren?eus'  views.  The  fact 
of  a  church's  having  apostolic  founders  and  being  presided  over  either  by 
presbyters  or  by  a  single  bishop  did  not  guarantee  the  purity  of  its  teach- 
ing. Neither  the  general  congregation  nor  the  office  of  supervision  was  such 
a  doctrinal  wheat  field  that  the  enemy  could  not  enter  it  to  sow  tares. 
On  the  contrary,  from  the  first  "when  the  blade  sprang  up  and  brought  forth 
fruit,  then  appeared  the  tares  also." 


Unity:  Bishop — Early  Development  241 

Observe,  the  idea  of  the  episcopate  for  which  the  devout  and 
impassioned  Ignatius  pleads  is  that  of  the  individual  bishop,  pre- 
siding over  his  congregation  with  absolute  authority,  and  stand- 
ing toward  it  in  the  place  of  God  himself.  No  predecessor,  no 
preceding  ordination,  no  intermediary  of  any  kind  is  taken  ac- 
count of.  Immediately  from  God  is  this  i)astoral  office  with  its 
unimpeachable  autiiority  over  each  separate  little  Christian  com- 
munity. But  the  idea  which  the  more  thoughtful  and  large- 
minded  Irengeus,  two  generations  later,  would  make  good,  is  that 
of  the  bishops  as  the  chief  officers  of  successive  apostolic  church- 
es, fulfilling  the  function  of  depositaries  of  the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  and  standing  in  the  place  of  the  Apostles. 
In  Ireuc-eus,  then,  appears  (and  for  the  first  time  in  Christian 
literature)  the  idea  of  an  apostolic  succession — though  not  of 
such  a  succession  as  is  now  ordinarily  known  by  that  name. 
16 


IX. 

THE  BISHOP:  LATER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  HIS 

OFFICE. 

A  HALF  century  later  we  reach  the  age  of  ''the  Ignatius  of 
the  West,"  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage  (d.  258).  The  name 
of  this  able  and  zealous  administrator  is  perhaps  the  most  sig- 
nificant in  the  whole  history  of  the  episcopate. 

I.  Peculiarities  of  the  Cyprianic  Episcopate. 

Cyprian  strenuously  emphasized  the  authority  of  the  individ- 
ual bishop.  Like  his  prototype,  Ignatius,  he  regarded  this  au- 
thority as  monarchical.  Though  elected  to  his  office  by  the  bish- 
ops of  the  province,  with  the  consent  and  cooperation  of  the 
people,'  the  bishop,  when  once  elected,  becomes  not  the  people's 
representative,  but  their  lord.  The  presbyters,  to  be  sure,  are 
his  councilors,  and  he  ought  to  consult  them,  as  also  the  people 
(Cyprian  did  so).  But  like  the  early  Roman  king  in  relation 
to  his  senate,  or  the  modern  Methodist  Episcopal  bishop  in  re- 
lation to  his  "cabinet"  of  presiding  elders,  he  may  at  his  option 
either  accept  or  reject  their  counsel.  Under  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  God  alone,  it  is  his  own  will,  not  that  of  presbyter  or 
people,  that  he  executes." 

Nor  might  any  bishop  exercise  the  least  authority  over  any 
other.     There  could  be  no  lower  and  higher :  the  episcopal  pastor 


^"Which  very  thing,  too,  we  observe  to  come  from  divine  authority,  that 
the  priest  [bishop,  here  as  uniformly  in  Cyprian]  should  be  chosen  in  the 
presence  of  the  people,  under  the  eyes  of  all,  and  should  be  approved  worthy 
and  suitable  by  public  judgment  and  testimony."  (Cyprian,  Ep.  LXVII. 
(LXVIL),  4) 

""Though  the  presbyters  may  still  have  retained  the  shadow  of  a  con- 
trolling power  6ver  the  acts  of  the  bishop,  though  the  courtesy  of  language 
by  which  they  were  recognized  as  fellow-presbyters  was  not  laid  aside,  yet 
for  all  practical  ends  the  independency  of  the  episcopate  was  completely 
established  by  the  principles  and  the  measures  of  Cyprian."  (Lightfoot, 
"The  Christian  Ministry"  (Whittaker),  p.  108.) 
(242) 


Bishop:  Later  Development  243 

of  a  church  in  the  obscurest  village  in  Christendom  stood  on  pre- 
cisely the  same  legal  level  with  the  pastor  of  the  church  in  the 
city  of  Carthage  or  Alexandria  or  Rome.  Though  all  the  bish- 
ops in  the  world  except  one  should  unite  to  command  or  to  judge 
that  one,  he  would  rest  under  no  obligation  to  submit.  Each 
was  a  monarch ;  and  no  monarch,  however  small  his  dominion, 
may  acknowledge  the  control  of  any  other,  nor  of  all  others  com- 
bined. "For  no  one  of  us,"  said  Cyprian,  presiding  at  a  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage,  ''sets  himself  up  as  a  bishop  of  bishops,  or  by 
tyrannical  terror  forces  his  colleagues  to  obeying,  inasmuch  as 
every  bishop,  in  the  free  use  of  his  liberty  and  power,  has  the 
right  of  forming  his  own  judgment,  and  can  no  more  be  judged 
by  another  than  he  can  himself  judge  another.'"  The  president's 
language  surely  does  not  lack  strength  or  explicitness. 

But  more  distinctively  the  name  of  Cyprian  stands  for  the 
recognition  of  the  collective  bishops  as  constituting  the  universal 
Church.  "The  Church  is  in  the  bishop:"  that  was  his  word,  and 
it  had  reference  not  only  to  the  local  congregation,  but  to  all 
Christian  congregations  as  a  whole.  For  he  goes  on  to  say: 
"While  the  Church,  which  is  catholic  and  true,  is  not  cut  nor 
di^•ided,  but  is  indeed  connected  and  bound  together  by  the  ce- 
ment of  priests  [bishops]  who  cohere  one  with  another."^ 

It  is  true,  a  germ  of  this  doctrine  might  be  discovered  in  the 
teaching  of  Ignatius  and  of  Iren^eus,  and  its  germination  in  the 
councils  composed  mainly  of  bishops,  that  had  already  been  held 
from  time  to  time.  But  it  was  through  the  influence  of  Cyprian 
— as  shown,  for  instance,  in  his  contest  with  Stephen  of  Rome 
on  the  subject  of  re-baptism — that  the  significance  and  utility  of 
the  council  of  bishops  were  demonstrated  as  never  before.  And 
it  was  through  him  that,  as  never  before,  not  simply  the  council 

'Augustine,  "On  Baptism,"  against  the  Donatists,  II.  3. 

''Ep.  LXVIII.  (LXVL),  8.  Cf.  "The  episcopate  is  one,  each  part  of 
which  is  held  by  each  one  for  the  whole  ('On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,'  5), 
and  'the  Church  is  founded  upon  the  bishops,  and  every  act  of  the  Church 
is  controlled  by  these  same  rulers.'"  ("To  the  Lapsed,"  Ep.  XXVI. 
^XXX    Jl.),  I.) 


244  Chrisfiafiify  as  Organised 

of  bishops  but  the  order  of  bishops  was  exploited  as  the  bond 
of  unit}'  and  the  constitutive  element  of  the  universal  Church/ 
In  a  word,  not  only  congregational  but  also  intercongregational 
and  catholic  unity  was  declared  to  be  essentially  episcopal.' 

Here  a  moment's  jmuse,  and  a  very  brief  question — What  is 
now  the  Church?  It  used  to  be  regarded  as  the  Christian  peo- 
ple— men  and  women,  ministers  and  private  members,  all  who 
met  together  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  now  to 
be  regarded  as  still,  in  a  general  or  receptive  or  passive  sense, 
the  Christian  people,  but  as  in  the  vital,  constitutive,  positive 
sense,  the  bishops.  From  these  officials  proceed  all  unity,  all 
interpretation  of  truth,  all  governmental  authority  and  power, 
all  sacramental  grace.  Henceforth  Cyprian  and  his  followers 
would  have  the  Church  described  not  as  in  Christ's  people,  but 
as  more  truly  "in  the  bishop." 

2.  Reconciliation  of  the  Two  Ideas. 

These,  then,  were  the  famous  Carthaginian  pastor's  two  lead- 
ing ideas  of  church  order — the  independence  of  the  individual 
bishop,  and  the  episcopal  bond  of  intercongregational  and  uni- 
versal unity. 

But  the  two  ideas  when  brought  into  conjunction  do  not  seem 
at  first  sight  to  make  a  perfect  fit.     For  supposing  the  bishops  to 

^"As  the  individual  bishop  had  been  pronounced  indispensable  to  the  ex- 
istence of  the  individual  community,  so  the  episcopal  order  was  now  put 
forward  as  the  absolute  indefeasible  representative  of  the  universal  Church. 
Synods  of  bishops  indeed  had  been  held  repeatedly  before ;  but  under 
Cyprian's  guidance  they  assumed  a  prominence  which  threw  all  existing 
precedents  into  the  shade.  .  .  .  He  acted  throughout  on  the  principle, 
distinctly  asserted,  that  the  existence  of  the  episcopal  office  was  not  a  matter 
of  practical  advantage  or  ecclesiastical  rule,  or  even  of  apostolic  sanction, 
but  an  absolute  incontrovertible  decree  of  God."  (Lightfoot,  "The  Chris- 
tian Ministry,"  pp.   io6,   107.) 

^"On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  iyassim.  "Not  where  the  Christian  ex- 
perience is,  the  gift  of  a  holy  spirit  in  men's  lives,  which  had  been  the 
bond  and  condition  everywhere  at  first ;  not  where  the  Scriptures  are ;  not 
where  the  apostolic  faith  and  the  rightful  bishop  are,  as  with  Irenseus ;  but 
where  the  rightful  bishop  is,  there,  and  there  alone,  is  Christ."  (Moore,  "The 
New  Testament  in  the  Christian  Church."  pp.  249,  250.") 


Bishop:  Later  Development  245 

disagree  concerning  a  matter  of  importance — say,  some  question 
of  administration — there  being  no  governing  power  above  them, 
how  shall  they  be  held  together,  and  the  Church  held  togetlier 
in  them?  Cyprian's  answer  would  have  been  that  they  ought 
not  to  disagree ;  and  he  urges  them  so  to  act  that  they  "may  also 
prove  the  episcoi)ate  itself  to  be  one  and  undivided/  If,  how- 
ever, there  should  l)e  a  serious  division  among  the  bishops,  as 
in  fact  must  and  did  occur,  let  a  council  be  called  to  decide  the 
question;  and  even  though  some  should  refuse  to  be  governed 
by  its  decision,  let  them  be  borne  with  and  permitted  to  pursue 
their  own  course,  and  thus  kept  in  the  unity  of  the  Church.* 

If,  indeed,  a  bishop  should  become  thoroughly  heretical  in 
doctrine,  schismatic  in  administration,  or  corrupt  in  character, 
he  would  be  regarded,  we  may  suppose,  as  having  thereby  virtu- 
ally forsaken  the  Church,  and  be  refused  communion  with  his 
brethren.  In  fact,  Cyprian  even  taught  that  the  congregation  of 
a  morally  corrupt  bishop  ought  to  reject  him/ 

Thus  might  the  two  principles  of  episcopal  independence  and 
ecclesiastical  unity  be  at  least  imperfectly  harmonized. 

An  analogue  may  be  found  in  modern  Congregationalism — 
for  ecclesiastical  extremes,  like  others,  do  sometimes  meet.  Un- 
der this  form  of  government,  each  church  is  independent  of  all 


'"On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  5. 

•"Some  of  the  bishops  here  in  our  province  thought  that  peace  was  not 
to  be  granted  to  adulterers.  .  .  .  Still  they  did  not  v/ithdraw  from  the 
assembly  of  the  co-bishops,  nor  break  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  .  .  . 
so  that,  because  that  by  some  peace  was  granted  to  adulterers,  he  who  did 
not  grant  it  should  be  separated  from  the  Church.  While  the  bond  of  con- 
cord remains,  and  the  undivided  sacrament  of  the  Catholic  Church  endures, 
every  bishop  directs  and  disposes  his  own  acts,  and  will  have  to  give  ac- 
count of  his  purposes  to  the  Lord."     (Ep.  LI.  (LV.),  21.) 

*"Nor  let  the  people  flatter  themselves  that  they  can  be  free  from  the  con- 
tagion of  sin,  while  communicating  with  a  priest  [bishop]  who  is  a  sinner, 
and  yielding  their  consent  to  the  unjust  and  unlawful  episcopacy  of  their 
overseer.  .  .  .  On  which  account  a  people  obedient  to  the  Lord's  precepts, 
and  fearing  God,  ought  to  separate  themselves  from  a  sinful  prelate,  and 
not  to  associate  themselves  with  the  sacrifices  of  a  sacrilegious  priest,  espe- 
cially since  they  themselves  have  the  power  of  choosing  worthy  priests  or  of 
rejecting  unworthy  ones."     (Ep.  LXVN.  (LVIL),  3.) 


24^  Christianity  as  Organized 

the  rest.  Nevertheless  the  churches  meet  together,  through  rep- 
resentatives, in  council ;  and  while  a  church  which  declines  to  act  in 
accordance  with  a  conciliar  decision  may  still  maintain  its  stand- 
ing in  the  communion  of  its  sister  churches,  yet  it  may,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  this  or  any  other  supposedly  sufficient  reason,  be 
refused  representation  in  councils  and  cut  off  from  ecclesiastic 
fellowship.  We  need  only  substitute  bishop  for  church,  in  such 
a  description,  in  order  to  have  a  correct  picture  of  the  Cyprianic 
episcopacy. 

3.  The  Bishop's  Office  an  Immediate  Gift  from  God. 

And  now  what,  according  to  Cyprian,  is  the  basis  of  episcopal 
power  ?  On  what  does  it  rest  ?  The  answer  is :  It  is  an  imme- 
diate gift  from  God.  Each  bishop,  on  entering  upon  his  office, 
is  invested  with  this  power  from  on  high.  Just  as  Christ  gave  it 
to  the  original  Apostles ;  so  does  he  now  give  it,  generation  after 
generation,  to  the  bishops.  Immediately  from  him  do  they  re- 
ceive it,  and  only  to  him  are  they  accountable  for  the  uge  of  it.' 

The  present  Emperor  of  Germany  is  reported  to  have  said: 
"We  Hohenzollerns  accept  our  crown  only  from  Heaven,  and 
are  responsible  to  Heaven  only  for  the  performance  of  our 
duties."  Similar  has  been  the  claim  of  many  another  monarch 
of  both  pagan  and  Christian  nations.  Similar  was  Cyprian's 
claim  for  his  episcopal  "crown" — and  later  the  claim  for  the 
Roman  "triple  crown,"  which  still  represents  the  most  imposing 
and  powerful  theocratic  institute  of  the  ages. 

The  bishops,  indeed,  are  successors  of  the  Apostles  in  a  reg- 

*Writing  about  Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  Cyprian  says  that  he  "was 
made  bishop  by  the  judgment  of  God  and  of  his  Christ"  (Ep.  LI.  (LV.)  8), 
and  writing  to  him  he  speaks  of  "the  subHme  and  divine  power  of  gov- 
erning the  Church,"  and  says :  "Undoubtedly  there  are  bishops  made  not  by 
the  will  of  God,  but  they  are  such  as  are  made  outside  the  Church."  (Ep. 
LIV.  (LIX.),  5.) 

"So  that  the  Lord  who  condescends  to  elect  and  appoint  for  himself 
priests  [bishops]  in  his  Church  may  protect  them  also  when  elected  and 
appointed  by  his  good  will  and  help,  inspiring  them  to  govern,"  etc.  (Ep. 
XLIV.  (XLVIIL),  4.     Cf.  LXIV.  (IIL),  3;  LXVIIL   (LXVL),  9.) 


Bishop:  Later  Development  247 

ular  line  of  ordinations.  At  least,  in  one  passage  (there  is  prob- 
ably no  other")  Cyprian  makes  such  an  assertion:  "Christ,  who 
says  to  the  Apostles,  and  thereby  to  all  chief  rulers,  n'ho  by  vica- 
rious ordination  succeed  to  the  Aposth^s,  'He  that  heareth  you 
heareth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you  despiseth  me  and  Him 
that  sent  me.'  ""  But  we  should  misinterpret  his  teaching  to 
suppose  that  it  was  here  that  Cyprian  would  chiefly  rest  his 
monarchical  claim.  That  upon  which  he  lays  the  main  stress, 
in  repeated  assertion,  is  the  bishop's  present  and  immediate  in- 
vestiture with  the  "sublime  and  divine  power  of  governing."* 
As  a  recent  scholarly  writer  has  expressed  it,  Cyprian  taught  not 
so  much  a  succession  from  the  Apostles  as  a  succession  of  apos- 
tles.* 

Something  more  as  to  the  Cyprianic  episcopate.  It  was  a 
priesthood.  The  bishop  was  a  sacrificing  and  mediating  priest. 
He  offered  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  sacri- 
fice;' he  could  remit  sins;'  he  imparted  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the 
soul  in  baptism,'  and  could  authorize  presbyters  and  deacons  to 
do  the  same.     True,  the  presbyter  was  himself  a  priest,  but  so 

'Ep.  LXXV.  (LXIX.)  5  looks  in  this  direction:  "While  the  true  shepherd 
remains  and  presides  over  the  Church  of  God  by  successive  ordination,"  etc. 

^Ep.  LXVIII.  (LXVL),  4- 

»Ep.  XLIV.  (XLVIIL),  4;  LXIV.  (III.),  3;  LXVIII.  (LXVL),  9. 

*"This  thought  of  apostolic  succession  which  is  to  be  found  in  Cyprian 
was  very  different  from  what  is  seen  both  in  Irenaeus  and  in  Tertullian. 
It  was  not  a  succession  from  the  apostles,  but  a  succession  of  apostles. 
The  historical  matter-of-fact  succession  disappeared,  and  the  conception  be- 
came a  creation  of  dogmatic  imagination.  The  thought  of  succession  from 
the  apostles,  in  a  line  of  office-bearers  creating  a  vital  connection  between 
the  generations  as  they  passed,  was  scarcely  in  Cyprian's  mind."  (Lindsay, 
"The  Church  and  the  Ministry  in  the  Early  Centuries,"  p.  311.) 

"Ep.  LXII.  (LXIIL),  passim. 

•Ep.  LXVIIL  (LXVL),  5;  LXII.  (LXIIL),  8;  LXXIL  (LXXIIL),  7; 
LXIX.  (LXXL),  3- 

^"Whence  we  perceive  that  only  they  who  are  set  over  the  Church  and 
established  in  the  gospel  law  and  in  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord  are  allowed 
to  baptize  and  to  give  remission  of  sins;  but  that  without,  nothing  can  either 
be  bound  or  loosed,  where  there  is  none  who  can  either  bind  or  loose  any- 
thing."    (Ep.  LXXIL  (LXXIIL),  7.)     See  also  IX.  (XVI.),  2. 


248  Christianity  as  Organised 

dependent  on  the  bishop  as  hardly  to  have  an  independent  rigiit 
to  the  title;  which  seems  to  be  the  reason  that  when  Cyprian 
speaks  of  God's  "priests,"  it  is  the  bishops  only  that  he  has  in 
mind. 

Was  not  the  bishop's  priesthood,  indeed,  the  central  secret  and 
source  of  his  power?  In  making  him  a  priest,  did  not  Almighty 
God  clothe  him  with  supreme  authority?  If  it  was  said  of  the 
priests  and  judges  of  Israel,  as  Cyprian  more  than  once  quoted 
to  prove  his  autocratic  position,  "The  man  that  doeth  presump- 
tuously, in  not  hearkening  unto  the  priest  that  standeth  to  min- 
ister there  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  or  unto  the  judge,  even  that 
man  shall  die,'"  how  can  the  man  who  refuses  to  obey  the  priest 
of  the  New  Covenant,  with  the  sacraments  of  salvation  in  his 
hands,  and  the  word  of  ecclesiastical  absolution  or  condemna- 
tion on  his  lips,  hope  to  be  saved  ? 

So,  without  the  bishop  there  was  no  Church,  and  out  of  the 
Church  there  was  no  salvation/ 

4.  Estimate  of  the  Cyprianic  Episcopate. 

Such  was  Cyprianism.  And  now  should  it  be  asked,  What 
proof  of  these  stupendous  claims  was  forthcoming?  the  answer 
must  be,  None  of  any  worth.  They  were  simply  dogmatic  con- 
ceptions, representing  what  seemed  to  their  propagandist  to  be 
needful  and  true,  but  resting  on  no  proper  historic  or  exegetic 
grounds.  They  were  the  ideas  of  a  Roman  lawyer,  familiar 
with  the  governmental  spirit  and  forms  of  the  Empire,  made  a 
bishop  only  two  or  three  years  after  his  baptism.  He  was  not 
a  careful  reasoner  nor  a  Bible  scholar,  but  more  of  a  zealot  than 
of  a  student — an  ecclesiastic  ready  to  believe  and  utilize  such 
doctrines  as  lent  themselves  to  the  administration  of  a  strong 
imperial  government  in  the  Church  and  an  externalist  preparing 
the  way  for  the  substitution  of  penance  for  repentance.     As  to 

^Deut.  xvii.  12. 

*"He  who  does  not  hold  this  unity  does  not  hold  God's  law,  does  not 
hold  the  faith  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  does  not  hold  life  and  salvation." 
("On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  6.) 


Bishop:  Later  Development  249 

exegesis,  Cyprian  founds  an  argument  for  baptism  on  the  words 
of  Jesus,  "Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  T  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst;"^  for  the  unity  of  the  Church,  on  the 
seamless  robe  for  which  the  soldiers  cast  lots  at  the  Cross  ;*  for 
the  ordination  of  bishops  by  a  Divine  decree,  on  the  assurance 
that  not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  the  heavenly 
Father;'  and  for  the  permanency  of  the  priesthood,  on  the  com- 
mand of  our  Lord  to  the  cleansed  leper:  ''Go,  show  thyself  to 
the  priest."  Such  interpretations  of  Scripture  are  quite  worthy 
to  be  classed  with  that  of  the  popes  in  making  the  words  of 
Simon  Peter,  "Behold,  here  are  two  swords,"*  represent  the 
power  of  the  pope  over  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil  rulers;  or 
that  of  the  Tractarian  divine  who  explained  the  Wicket  Gate  in 
"The  Pilgrim's  Progress"  as  signifying  baptism,  and  the  Palace 
Beautiful  as  the  Lord's  Supper;  or  that  of  the  evangelic  preacher 
who  from  the  text,  "He  that  loveth  pleasure  shall  be  a  poor 
man,  he  that  loveth  wine  and  oil  shall  not  be  rich,""*  drew  the 
theme  that  he  who  enjoys  the  means  of  grace  shall  be  poor  in 
spirit  and  he  that  loves  the  provisions  of  the  gospel  shall  not  be 
rich  in  his  own  esteem. 

But  such  exegesis,  bringing  reason  and  truth  into  contempt, 
is  not  adapted  to  confirm  one's  confidence  in  either  the  intel- 
lectual discernment  or  the  honesty  of  a  teacher.  Truly  a  good 
man  with  rich  administrative  gifts  may  limp  in  logic  and  fall 
headlong  in  exegesis ;  but  he  must  be  content  by  so  much  to  lose 
authority  as  an  expounder  for  all  after  ages  of  so  scriptural  a 
subject  as  the  nature  of  the  Ecclesia  of  Jesus  Christ.  For  he 
could  easily  enough  make  the  Scriptures  of  either  the  Old  or  the 
New  Covenant  describe  it  as  anything  whatever  that  he  be- 
lieved it,  or  might  wish  it,  to  be. 

Here,  however,  was  an  ecclesiastical  unity  enforced  by  the 
most  awful  sanctions  conceivable — salvation  for  those  within, 
and  eternal  damnation  for  all  outsiders.     A  purely  Christward 

^Ep.  LXII.  (LXIII.),  8.  ^"On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  7. 

»Ep.  LIV.   (LIX.),  5;  LXVIII.   (LXVL),  i. 
*Luke  xxii.  38.  "Prov.  xxi.  17. 


250  Chrpstianity  as  Organised 

unity?  By  no  means:  the  mediation  of  the  Church  was  over- 
emphasized and  despirituahzed.  Practically  the  Church  was  of- 
fered to  men  instead  of  the  Saviour.  \\'ith  whatever  high  and 
martyrlike  sincerity  maintained.  Cyprian's  was  an  external, 
legal,  organic,  priestlv  unity,  unauthorized  and  despotic,  com- 
pelling the  sometimes  resistant  but  often  pliant  and  unintelligent 
will  into  submission.  It  has  borne  fniit  through  the  subsequent 
ages  after  its  kind. 

"God  be  praised  I"'  exclaimed  Cyprian  when  the  proconsul  pro- 
nounced upon  him  as  a  Christian  the  sentence  of  death  by  the 
sword.  And  doubtless  his  glorious  martyrdom  added  an  influ- 
ence of  its  own  to  the  propagation  and  perpetuity  of  his  dog- 
matic beliefs.  But  surely  it  is  a  fact  most  tragical  that  a  man 
may  seriously  misconceive  the  truth  or  pervert  the  institutions  of 
the  holy  Master  for  whom  he  is  gladly  willing  to  lay  down  his 
life. 

Let  us  now  dwell  a  moment,  by  way  of  resume,  upon  the  three 
most  distinguished  names  that  mark  the  growth  of  the  episco- 
pate during  the  first  century  and  a  quarter  of  its  histor)" :  Igna- 
tius, in  the  early  part  of  the  second  century,  who  stands  for  the 
bishop  as  the  congregational  center  of  unity;  Irenseus,  about  the 
close  of  this  century,  who  stands  for  the  bishop  as  the  center  of 
orthodox  teaching;  Cyprian,  about  the  middle  of  the  next  cen- 
tury, who  stands  for  the  bishop  as  the  center  of  unity  for  the 
whole  Church. 

5.  Rise  and  Development  of  Diocesax  Episcopacy. 

We  have  here  reached  the  limit  of  the  episcopal  office  in  one 
direction.  It  has  never  asserted  any  higher  order  of  preroga- 
tives. Indeed,  how  could  it  ?  But  the  administrative  breadth  of 
the  individual  bishop's  official  claim  must  now  be  considered. 
How  manv  congregations  were  included  in  his  jurisdiction? 
This  question  will  require  us  to  go  back  to  the  beginning  and 
mark  the  origin  and  progress  of  diocesan  episcopacy. 

In  the  time  of  Ignatius,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  there 


BisJiop:  Later  Dcz'clopuient  251 

was  no  such  officer  in  the  Clmrch  as  we  of  to-day  are  familiar 
with  under  tlie  name  of  bishop.  Tlie  bishop,  as  ah'eady  indi- 
cated, was  simply  the  pastor,  or  ruler,  of  the  local  congregation. 
Outside  the  congregation  he  had  no  authority,  nor  was  he  him- 
self subject  to  any  outside  authority.  In  brief,  ciiurch  polity  was 
at  that  time  beyond  controversy,  neither  diocesan  nor  synodical, 
but  congregational.  It  is  also  worth  while  to  notice  that  the 
Church  in  those  days  was  chiefly  in  the  city  and  its  immediate 
neigliborhood :  the  villagers  {pagani),  not  yet  Christianized, 
were  still  for  the  most  part  pagans.' 

What  we  wish  to  learn  is  the  process  by  which  the  pastor,  or 
congregational  Ijishop,  became  pastor  pastoruin,  or  diocesan  bish- 
op. Here,  as  often  in  our  study,  some  mental  patience  will  be 
called  for ;  because  no  one  short  answer  can  possibly  represent 
the  facts.  The  process  of  pastoral  expansion  was  at  least  four- 
fold. 

( I )  As  new  congregations  were  formed  from  time  to  time  in 
a  city — as,  for  instance,  in  Rome  or  x-Vlexandria — and  its  vicin- 
ity, the  bishop  of  the  mother  church  would  appoint  some  pres- 
byter— or  presbyters,  for  as  late  as  the  third  century  it  was  the 
rule  that  there  should  be  at  least  two — to  take  charge  of  each  of 
these  outlying  congregations.  Meanwhile  he  himself  not  only 
retained  his  own  original  charge,  but  also  exercised  a  general 
superintendence  over  these  others.  The  arrangement  was  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  a  strong  city  church  in  the  present  day  which  has 
established  one  or  more  chapels  (so-called  "chapels  of  ease"), 
and  retains  them  under  its  own  general  supervision — a  single 
pastor  for  all,  with  such  assistants  as  may  be  necessary. 

Out  of  this  development,  which  seems  to  have  started  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century,  arose  the  first  form  of  what 

^Not  that  in  all  localities  village  and  country  Christians  were  rare  in  those 
days.  As  early  as  the  year  112,  or  thereabout,  Pliny  the  Younger,  in  his 
famous  letter  to  Trajan,  says:  "The  contagion  of  that  superstition  has  pene- 
trated not  the  cities  only  but  the  villages  and  the  country."  Persecutions, 
also,  had  a  tendency  to  spread  Christianity  in  the  country,  both  by  causing 
Qiristians  to  seek  refuge  there  from  their  enemies,  and  by  the  condemnation 
of  many  others  to  go  as  laborers  in  the  mines. 


252  Christianity  as  Organised 

was  afterwards  called  diocesan  episcopacy.  As  we  had  occasion 
to  notice  in  connection  with  the  presbyterate/  the  relation  be- 
tween the  bishop's  own  particular  congregation  and  the  other 
congregations  of  his  district  was  at  first  very  close.  He  appoint- 
ed all  pastors,  or  presiding  presbyters;  he  called  them  together 
in  council ;  he  sent  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  every  Sunday 
to  these  congregations  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
he  must  lay  his  hands  upon  all  baptized  persons  before  their 
baptism  should  be  regarded  as  complete. 

But  this  extreme  closeness  of  relation  between  the  bishop  in 
the  mother  church  and  the  presbyter  in  the  dependent  church 
was  not  perpetuated.  The  presiding  presbyters  gained  the  right 
to  consecrate  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  in  their  own 
churches;  and  their  membership  in  the  bishop's  council  became 
a  mere  nominal  matter.  The  bishop,  however,  still  appointed 
these  presiding  presbyters,  and  required  them,  as  well  as  the 
presbyters  of  his  own  congregation,  to  present  him  reports  of 
their  work. 

(2)  When  at  a  somewhat  later  period — say,  toward  the  close 
of  the  third  century — the  country  people  (heath-en)  had  been 
converted  in  large  numbers,  and  gathered  into  congregations  in 
the  smaller  towns  and  villages,  these  congregations,  as  a  rule, 
had  each  its  own  bishop:  which  of  course  is  simply  saying  that 
they  had  each  its  own  pastor.^  But  in  some  cases  the  congre- 
gations were  grouped  under  the  charge  of  a  country  bishop 
(xopcTTto-KOTro?).  A  similar  modern  arrangement  might  be  found 
in  an  American  Methodist  circuit. 

The  country  bishops,  however,  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  city  bishops — not  coequal  with  them.  Nor  did  their  office 
ever  rise  to  any  notable  prominence  or  influence.  Appearing 
first  in  Asia  Minor,  and  afterwards  in  many  places,  East  and 
West,  its  place  was  taken  in  the  West,  after  a  few  centuries,  by 

^See  pp.  219,  220. 

""In  the  only  half-converted  province  of  North  Africa,  470  episcopal  towns 
are  known  by  name."  (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches," 
p.  79) 


Bishop:  Later  Development       •  253 

the  archdiaconate ;  and  so  it  passed  away.  In  the  Churches  of 
the  East  it  still  has  a  place ;  though  it  does  not  seem  to  have  ex- 
isted continuously  from  the  early  times. 

(3)  In  Gaul  and  Spain,  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries, 
wealthy  landowners  would  build  chapels  on  their  estates  and  ap- 
I)oint  priests  to  take  charge  of  the  congregation.'  These  congre- 
gations, accordingly,  were  independent  of  episcopal  control,  and 
indeed  of  all  other  control  except  that  of  the  lord  of  the  estate. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  this  state  of  things  was  not  likely  to 
be  kept  up  very  long.  For  the  landlord  was  not  competent  to 
preside  over  ecclesiastical  affairs.  And  as  to  the  ministers  who 
would  accept  positions  at  his  hand,  they  were  men  who  were  or- 
dained, according  to  a  loose  custom  of  the  time,  absolute — that 
is  to  say,  without  being  assigned  to  any  particular  congregation. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  they  proved  to  be  unfit,  self-seek- 
ing men.  In  these  circumstances,  church  discipline  came  to 
naught. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  was  the  bishop  in  the  county  town, 
with  his  strong  church,  reaching  out  to  extend  his  jurisdiction, 
and  to  gather  the  whole  Christian  population  under  his  own 
supreme  authority  and  care.  Besides,  the  sovereign — this  was 
certainly  true  of  that  most  dread  sovereign,  Charlemagne — fa- 
vored and  even  commanded  the  centralization  of  ecclesiastic 
rule.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  before  the  close  of  the  eighth 
century,  all  these  independent  congregations  were  brought  into 
subordination  to  the  bishop  of  the  county  town.  Thus  the  coun- 
ty became  a  diocese." 

(4)  Anglo-Saxon  England  and  the  uncivilized  tribes  of  Ger- 
many were  converted,  and  subjected  to  the  control  of  Rome, 
chiefly  by  two  missionaries — Augustine  and  Boniface.     These 

Ut  is  through  a  somewhat  similar  custom  in  early  English  history  that 
it  has  come  to  pass  that,  even  unto  the  present  time,  very  many  "livings" 
are  at  the  disposal  of  private  patrons.  "The  missionaries  became  settled 
clergj'.  The  township  or  group  of  townships  which  fell  within  the  holding 
or  patronage  of  an  English  noble  or  landowner  became  the  parish  and  his 
chaplain  its  parish  priest."     (Green,  "The  Making  of  England,"  p.  369.) 

*Hatch,  "Growth  of  Church  Institutions,"  p.  43  flF. 


254  .        Christianity  as  Organised 

two  men  were  appointed  b)'  the  pope  as  missionary  bishops  in 
their  respective  fields  of  labor.  Accordingly,  as  they  succeeded 
in  Christianizing  the  people,  they  organized  them  into  congre- 
gations under  a  centralized  episcopal  government.  In  England 
this  organization  was  perfected — a  number  of  bishoprics  being 
grouped  about  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Canterbury  by  Theo- 
dore of  Canterbury — in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh  century. 

In  these  four  ways,  then,  it  came  about  that  the  pastor  of  a 
single  congregation  became  the  superintendent  of  all  the  con- 
gregations of  a  certain  district.  And  this  was  the  evolution  of 
the  diocesan  bishop. 

6.  RiTTAL  Episcopal  Functions. 

In  addition  to  his  superintendency,  there  were  certain  ritual 
functions  which  the  bishop  appropriated. 

Of  these  the  chief  was  ordination.  Who  were  the  ordainers, 
admitting  the  elected  person  into  office  through  the  accustomed 
ceremony  of  laying  on  of  hands  with  prayer,  during  the  apos- 
tolic age?  So  far  as  our  information  goes,  they  were  Apostles,' 
delegates  of  Apostles,^  or  an  Apostle  together  with  presbyters.* 
Who  were  the  ordainers  for  some  time  thereafter?  Here  very 
little  information  is  available.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that, 
under  the  single  episcopate,  from  the  outset  the  bishop  would 
take  a  leading  part  in  this  consecrating  of  men  to  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel.  It  would  be  well-nigh  inevitable,  would  it  not? 
There  is  evidence,  however,  that  even  as  late  as  the  fourth  cen- 
tury presbyters,  occasionally  at  least,  exercised  this  function. 
Cyprian  complains  of  the  schismatic  presbyter  Novatian:  "He 
it  is  who,  without  my  leave  or  knowledge,  of  his  factiousness 
and  ambition,  appointed  his  attendant  Felicissimus  a  deacon :" 
from  which  complaint  it  is  a  fair  inference  that  with  the  bishop's 
"leave"  Novatian  was  competent  to  appoint,  or  ordain,  a  dea- 
con.* Also,  the  Council  of  Ancyra  (314)  forbade  country  bish- 
ops and  city  presbyters  to  ordain  either  presbyters  or  deacons 

'Acts  vi.  6;  xiv.  23.  "2  Tim.  i.  6;  i  Tim.  iv.  14. 

^Titus  i.  5.  *Ep.  XLVIII.   (LID,  2. 


Bishop:  Later  Development  255 

"in  another  parish ;'"  which  implies  that  up  to  that  time  it  had 
not  been  prohibited.  Again,  in  the  city  of  Alexandria,  the  pres- 
byters who  elected  the  bishop  out  of  their  own  number  also  con- 
ducted him  to  the  episcopal  chair;  and  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  only  ceremony  of  his  induction  into  office/ 

But  as  the  scriptural  conception  of  ordination  underwent  its 
change  from  that  of  appointment  to  office  of  a  man  already  qual- 
ified by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  that  of  his  c[ualification  through  the 
laying  on  of  hands  itself,"  and  at  the  same  time  the  bishop  came 
to  be  accepted  as  the  successor  of  the  original  Apostles,  it  was 
felt  that  he  alone  should  be  empowered  to  admit  men  into  the 
Christian  ministry.  So  from  the  fourth  century  onward  ordi- 
nations were  positively  restricted  to  episcopal  hands.* 

In  the  Church  of  the  AA'est  another  exclusive  function  of  the 
bishop  was  confirmation.  This  rite  originated  in  the  imposition 
of  hands  as  an  accompaniment  of  baptism.  Whoever  baptized 
also  laid  hands  upon  the  subject,  at  the  same  time,  in  blessing, 
after  what  was  supposed,  not  very  intelligently,  to  be  apostolic 
example.''  But  the  bishop  claimed  to  be  the  most  proper  ad- 
ministrator of  baptism;  and  as  it  was  impracticable  for  him  to 

4t  is  difficult  fully  to  understand  the  Canon  (XIII.),  which  runs  as  fol- 
lows :  "It  is  not  lawful  for  Chorepiscopoi  to  ordain  presbyters  or  deacons, 
and  most  assuredly  presbj^ters  of  a  city,  without  the  commission  of  the 
bishop  given  in  writing,  in  another  parish." 

^Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  p.  134;  Lightfoot, 
"The  Christian  Ministry,"  pp.  86-88. 

'See  p.  205  flf. 

*See,  for  example,  Jerome  "To  Evangelus,"  i :  "For  what  except  ordi- 
nation does  a  bishop  do  that  a  presbyter  does  not?" 

"Acts  viii.  14-17. 

Cf.  rubric  in  the  Order  for  the  Ministration  of  Baptism  in  the  Ritual  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South :  "The  minister  may,  at  his  discre- 
tion, lay  hands  on  the  subject,  accompanying  the  act  with  a  suitable  invo- 
cation." 

"The  narrative  of  the  Acts  elsewhere  assures  us  that  the  Apostles  laid 
their  hands  on  all  Christians  after  their  baptism,  in  order  by  this  means  to 
impart  to  them  that  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  the  essence  of  the 
Christian  life."  (Gore,  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  pp.  235,  236.)  One 
hardly  knows  how  to  take  such  an  assertion  seriously  from  the  pen  of  a 
New  Testament  student  or  even  reader. 


256  Christianity  as  Organised 

administer  it  in  all  cases,  he  reserved  for  himself,  in  case  of  bap- 
tism by  a  presbyter  or  a  deacon,  the  laying  on  of  hands,  without 
which  the  baptism  was  regarded  as  incomplete.  Accordingly, 
as  soon  as  convenient,  in  his  visitations  in  the  diocese,  the  bishop 
completed  the  baptismal  ceremony  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands. 
And  thus  arose  the  episcopal  rite  of  confirmation/ 

Moreover,  it  was  the  teaching  of  the  day  that  baptism  was  a 
washing  away  of  sin  and  thus  a  preparation  for  death,  while 
confirmation  was  an  impartation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  thus  a 
preparation  for  growth  in  grace  and  the  living  of  the  Christian 
life.' 

In  the  Church  of  the  East  the  parish  priest  has  always  given 
confirmation,  and  in  immediate  connection  with  baptism. 

Still  another  ritual  function  of  the  episcopacy  was  the  conse- 
cration of  church  edifices. 

Such,  then,  had  the  episcopal  office  become.  In  the  prelatic 
churches,  such  in  its  two  most  prominent  functions — namely, 
governing  and  ordaining — it  still  remains. 

As  to  the  personal  qualifications  of  bishops  and  their  mode  of 
living,  the  diversity  in  different  ages  and  countries  has  been  as 

^Smith  and  Cheatham's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  Art.  "Con- 
firmation." 

"I  do  not  deny  that  it  is  the  practice  of  the  churches,  in  the  case  of  those 
who,  living  far  from  the  greater  towns,  have  been  baptized  by  presbyters 
and  deacons,  for  the  bishop  to  visit  them,  and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands 
invoke  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  them."  (Jerome,  "Dialog,  against  the  Luci- 
ferians,"  c.  9.)  Jerome  adds  that  this  practice  is  "more  by  way  of  honoring 
the  episcopate  than  for  any  compulsory  law."  "Otherwise,"  he  says,  "if  the 
Holy  Spirit  descends  only  at  the  bishop's  prayer,  they  are  greatly  to  be 
pitied  who  in  isolated  homes,  or  in  forts,  or  retired  places,  after  being  bap- 
tized by  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  have  fallen  asleep  before  the  bishop's 
visitation." 

-"As  he  [Novatian]  seemed  about  to  die,  he  received  baptism  by  affusion. 
.  And  when  he  was  healed  of  his  sickness,  he  did  not  receive  the  other 
things  which  it  is  necessary  to  have,  according  to  the  canon  of  the  Church, 
even  the  being  sealed  [confirmed]  by  the  bishop.  And  as  he  did  not  receive 
this,  how  could  he  receive  the  Holy  Spirit?"  (Letter  of  Cornelius,  in 
Eusebius.  H.  E.  VI.  43.  ^4.) 


Bishop:  Later  Development  257 

great  as  can  easily  be  imagined.  It  has  ranged  from  densest 
ignorance  to  the  best  learning  of  the  schools,  from  shameless 
and  criminal  self-seeking  to  the  heights  of  Christian  integrity, 
from  pinching  asceticism  to  princely  luxury. 

Besides,  the  alliance  of  Church  and  State  offered  the  bishop 
long  ago  an  opportunity,  which  seems  to  have  been  all  too  eager- 
ly accepted,  to  assume  certain  civil  and  even  military  functions. 
There  were  times  in  the  Middle  Ages,  for  instance,  when  the 
episcopal  court  held  jurisdiction  not  only  over  the  clergy,  both 
as  to  ecclesiastical  and  civil  cases,  but  also  to  a  large  extent  over 
the  people.  Fines,  scourging,  imprisonment  were  some  of  the 
punishments  inflicted.  "The  spiritual  courts,"  says  Hallam, 
"usurped,  under  sophistical  pretenses,  almost  the  whole  admin- 
istration of  justice.^ 

There  were  also  times  when  bishops  (and  abbots,  who  some- 
times even  excelled  the  bishops  in  power)  took  command  of 
troops,  and  fighting  with  their  own  hands,  according  to  the  cus- 
tom of  the  day,  led  them  to  bloody  battle  against  the  heretic  or 
the  Infidel.  In  many  such  instances  these  ecclesiastico-military 
leaders  were  feudal  lords ;  for  perhaps  one-half  the  land  of 
Western  Europe  was  then  in  possession  of  the  Church.  So  the 
bishops,  like  any  other  vassals,  must  furnish  their  quota  of  sol- 
diers and  gird  on  their  own  swords  in  time  of  war,  at  the  com- 
mand of  their  prince.  It  might  be  one  of  the  first  services  they 
were  called  upon  to  perform  after  ordination.  Of  some  of  them 
special  deeds  of  prowess  are  recorded.  Many  doubtless  were 
both  dauntless  and  sincere.  Some  died  on  the  battlefield.  But 
all  were  dishonoring  the  name  and  office  of  bishop  in  the  Church 
of  God.  Their  fatal  blunder  was  not  unlike  that  of  Urban  II., 
who  cried,  in  his  impassioned  preaching  of  the  First  Crusade : 
*Tt  is  the  will  of  God.  Let  these  words  be  your  war  cry  when 
you  unsheathe  your  swords."  They  had  borrowed  his  sword 
from  the  False  Prophet. 

'"Europe  During  the  Middle  Ages"  (1885),  Vol.  I.,  p.  625. 
17 


X. 

THE  BISHOP:  ORIGIN  OF  HIS  OFFICE. 

There  is  another  episcopal  question,  which,  unlike  some  that 
have  already  held  our  thoughts  for  a  time,  has  a  far  more  than 
historic  interest.  It  is  the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  single 
episcopate.  Innumerable  are  the  discussions  which  it  has  evoked ; 
and  the  well-worn  arguments  of  the  last  three  hundred  years,  in 
the  hands  of  all  grades  of  controvertists,  from  the  feeblest  to  the 
most  formidable,  are  still  doing  service.  Of  late,  however,  it  is 
asserted  that  fresh  discoveries,  which  call  for  some  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  older  views,  have  been  made  in  this  part  of  the  ec- 
clesiologic  field.  What  these  are  we  may  see  toward  the  end  of 
the  chapter. 

The  beliefs  that  are  held  as  to  the  origin  of  the  single  epis- 
copate vitally  concern  the  unity  of  organized  Christianity  in  the 
world  to-day.  For  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  question 
would  remove  one  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  federation  of  the 
churches.  To  search  out,  then,  the  facts  and  the  truth  concern- 
ing this  matter  must  be  no  less  than  a  duty.  By  all  means  let 
knowledge  have  its  rightful  share  in  determining  belief.  And  it 
will  be  so  increasingly  as  the  Christian  centuries  come  on. 

I.  Theory  of  Elevation  from  the  Presbyterate. 

Before  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  single  episcopate 
had  been  established  generally  in  the  churches.  Whence  did  it 
originate  ? 

Four  attempted  solutions  of  the  problem  have  been  offered. 

The  first  is,  that  the  office  of  bishop  and  that  of  presbyter 
were  originally  one  and  the  same  office  under  two  interchangea- 
ble names ;  but  when  one  of  the  presbyter-bishops  was  elected  to 
a  presidency  over  his  fellows,  his  power  tended  to  increase  and 
the  name  bishop  ("overseer")  came  to  be  restricted  to  him  only. 
And  the  others  were  thenceforth  called  simply  presbvters. 
(258) 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  259 

Let  us  recall  the  familiar  proof-texts  which  seem  to  show  the 
two  titles  to  be  used  interchangeably.  When  Paul  had  his  inter- 
view with  "the  elders  (  TrpecrftvTepovs  )  of  the  church"  in  Ephesus, 
he  charged  them :  "Take  heed  unto  yourselves  and  to  all  the  flock 
in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  made  you  bishops  (tVio-KoVovs)."^ 
These  elders,  then,  were  at  the  same  time  bishops.  Again,  in 
the  pastoral  letter  which  he  writes  to  his  friend  and  fellow- 
laborer,  Titus,  he  says :  "For  this  cause  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that 
thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ap- 
point elders  (Trpeo-ySuTcpovs)  in  every  city,  as  I  gave  thee  charge; 
if  any  man  is  blameless,  .  .  ,  for  the  bishop  {iTTLo-Kovos)  must 
be  blameless.'""    To  appoint  elders,  then,  was  to  appoint  bishops. 

Now  it  might  be  supposed  that  only  the  word  "elder"  in  these 
passages  is  used  as  a  title — the  word  "bishop"  being  a  common 
term  descriptive  of  the  work  which  a  presbyter  must  do.  And 
this  would  be  no  unreasonable  supposition.  The  terms  ■trpo'ivTo.p.tvoi 
("they  that  are  over  you")'  and  ■f/yovp.^voi  ("they  that  have  the 
rule  over  you")'  are  undoubtedly  used  in  this  mere  descriptive, 
or  unofficial,  sense.  In  fact,  the  word  "bishop"  itself  is,  at  least 
in  its  participial  form,  used  by  the  apostle  Peter  in  an  unofficial 
sense :  "Tend  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  exercising 
the  oversight  (cTrio-KOTrowTcs).""  Also,  w^hen  the  term  is  applied  to 
our  Lord  himself — "the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  (eVto-Koiros"* — it 
seems  unlikely  that  any  official  meaning  of  the  word  is  in  the 
writer's  mind.  Wliy,  then,  may  it  not  be  so  when  this  same  word 
is  used  in  Acts  and  in  Titus? 

But  let  us  turn  to  another  New  Testament  writing.  Opening 
the  letter  to  the  Philippians,  we  read :  "Paul  and  Timothy,  serv- 
ants of  Christ  Jesus,  to  all  the  saints  who  are  at  Philippi,  wnth 
the  bishops  and  deacons."  Beyond  a  doubt,  both  terms  in  such  a 
passage  have  the  appearance  of  being  used  as  official  titles ;  and 
except  on  the  supposition  that  presbyters  are  addressed  in  this 

^A.cts  XX.  17,  28.  'i  Thess.  v.  12. 

^Titus  i.  5,  7.  *Heb.  xiii.  17. 

"i  Pet.  V.  2.  'E7rit7K($7rowT£f,  however,  is  omitted  here  by  the  present  au- 
thorities in  textual  criticism.  *i  Pet.  ii.  25. 


26o  Christianity  as  Organised 

salutation  under  the  name  of  bishops,  we  should  have  to  adopt 
the  extremely  unlikely  conclusion  that  either  presbyters  did  not 
exist  at  Philippi — -while  on  the  other  hand  there  were  more  than 
one  bishop — or  for  some  unimaginable  reason  they  were  ignored 
in  the  salutation  of  the  founder  and  chief  pastor  of  the  church. 

Or,  again,  how  shall  we  understand  the  third  chapter  of  First 
Timothy,  where  the  qualifications  of  bishops  and  deacons  are 
laid  down?  For  here  too  both  terms  have  all  the  appearance  of 
official  titles ;  and  unless  bishops  are  the  same  as  presbyters,  there 
is  an  unaccountable  omission  of  presbyters  and  their  qualifica- 
tions. 

Besides,  presbyters  are  mentioned  later  in  this  same  epistle  as 
rulers  of  the  church  and  entitled  to  a  maintenance,'  as  not  to  be 
proceeded  against  in  a  matter  of  discipline  except  on  the  testi- 
mony of  two  or  three  witnesses,"  and  as  not  to  be  rebuked  by 
the  young  pastor,  but  exhorted  as  fathers.^  These  references 
seem  more  consistent  with  the  idea  that  presbyters  are  the  same 
as  the  bishops  of  the  former  chapter  than  with  the  idea  of  their 
being  a  third  class  of  officers,  unmentioned  by  the  side  of  the 
bishops  and  deacons  when  the  qualifications  for  office  are  enu- 
merated. 

Why,  then,  it  may  he  asked,  are  they  not  called  bishops  here 
also?  Possibly  because  they  are  here  spoken  of  in  such  a  way — 
namely,  as  entitled  to  maintenance,  to  be  dealt  with  most  consid- 
erately if  accused  of  misconduct,  and  not  to  be  rebuked  by  the 
young  pastor — as  would  make  the  venerated  name  of  presbyter 
the  more  fitting  word. 

However,  the  question  of  the  official  or  the  unofficial  use  of 
the  terms  is  not  essential.  For,  at  all  events,  the  opinion  that 
these  terms  denote  the  same  class  or  company  of  persons  is  now 
held  with  practical  unanimity  (barring  some  recent  dissent  to  be 
noticed  a  few  pages  later)  by  New  Testament  scholars.^ 

h  Tim.  V.  17,  18.  "I  Tim.  v.  19.  ^i  Tim.  v.  i. 

*"It  is  a  fact  now  generally  recognized  by  theologians  of  all  shades  of 
opinion,  that  in  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  the  same  officer  in  the 
Church   is   called   indifferently   'bishop'    ( eiriaKoirog)    and   'elder'  or  'presbyter' 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  261 

In  the  earliest  sub-apostolic  literature,  likewise,  the  inter- 
changeableness  of  the  two  terms,  bishop  and  presbyter,  ap- 
pears/ 

But  it  came  to  pass  that,  for  the  sake  of  a  stronger  unity  and 
a  more  efficient  executive,  the  presbyter-bishops  elected  a  presi- 
dent of  their  body,  who  thus  became  at  the  same  time  president 
of  tlie  whole  congregation.  There  was  a  special  demand,  as  we 
have  seen,  for  some  such  personal  bond  of  congregational  unity 
— because  of  strifes  within  the  Church  and  heresies  threatening 
from  without.  And  this  presiding  officer  was  appropriately 
called  bishop  or  overseer,  while  the  others  were  retained  about 
him  as  a  council  of  presbyters.* 


{npea^vTEpog) ,"  (Lightfoot,  Commentary  on  Philippians,  Excursus  on  "The 
Synonyms  of  'Bishop'  and  'Presbyter.' " 

"The  admissions  of  both  medieval  and  modern  writers  of  ahnost  all 
schools  of  theological  opinion  have  practically  removed  this  from  the  list  of 
disputed  questions."  (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches," 
P-  39,  n.) 

"At  first  the  supreme  authority  in  the  Church  was  vested  in  the  Apostles, 
and  the  titles  of  Priest  and  Bishop  were  both  used  of  the  same  order."  (The 
Anglican  Ordinal,  annotated  by  Bloomfield  Jackson,  p.  26.  Cf.  also  Blunt, 
Dictionary  of  Historical  and  Doctrinal  Theology,  .Art.  "Bishops.") 

This  identity  is  admitted  by  Bishop  Gore,  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry," 
pp.  223-4,  244-S. 

*For  our  sin  will  not  be  small,  if  we  eject  from  the  oversiglit  {ipicKonii) 
those  who  have  blamelessly  and  holily  fulfilled  its  duties.  Blessed  are  those 
presbyters  who,  having  fulfilled  their  course  before  now,  have  obtained  a 
fruitful  and  perfect  departure  [from  this  world],  for  they  have  no  fear  lest 
any  one  deprive  them  of  the  place  now  appointed  them."  (Clement,  "To  the 
Corinthians,"  44.)  The  Didache,  as  we  have  seen,  speaks  of  bishops  and 
deacons,  but  not  of  presbyters.  The  testimony  of  Hermas  is  to  the  same 
effect.  (See  "The  Pastor,"  Sim.  IX.  26,  27;  Vis.  H.  4;  HI.  5.)  Polycarp. 
also,  speaks  of  presbyters  and  deacons,  but  not  of  bishops.  (Ep.  to  Philip- 
pians, 5,  6.) 

^"The  objection  to  this  theory  is  that  it  throws  no  light  on  the  difficulties 
which  are  encountered  in  the  effort  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry; while  it  raises  even  greater  difficulties  by  making  the  transition  in- 
explicable in  the  writings  of  Ignatius,  where  bishops  and  presbyters  are 
sharply  distinguished."  (Allen,  "Christian  Institutions,"  p.  79.)  I  do  not 
feel  the  force  of  this  objection.  Unless  one  insi.st  that  all  is  darkness  so 
long  as  two  names,  even  in  a  formative  state  of  the  Church,  are  used  to 
desigiiate  the  same   officer,  the  theorj'  in  question  does  throw  light  on  the 


262  Christianity  as  Organized 

Jerome,  "earliest  and  greatest  of  ecclesiastical  antiquaries,"  is 
the  first  notable  name  that  stands  for  such  a  belief.  This  "an- 
tiquary" teaches  that,  according  to  the  New  Testament,  "presby- 
ters are  the  same  as  bishops,"  that  the  single  episcopate  arose 
"when  subsequently  one  presbyter  was  chosen  to  preside  o\er  the 
rest,"  and  that  this  was  done  in  the  interest  of  unity — "to  rem- 
edy schism,  and  to  prevent  each  individual  from  rending  the 
Church  of  Christ  by  drawing  it  to  himself.'"  It  is  not  to  be 
hastily  supposed,  however,  that  Jerome  had  any  sources  of  in- 
formation on  this  subject  except  such  as  are  still  open  to  us  all. 
At  any  rate,  the  argument  by  which  he  sustains  his  position  is 
purely  exegetic.  It  is  the  New  Testament  argument — substan- 
tially as  given  above. 

But  the  seeming  reasonableness  of  this  theory  has  made  great- 
ly in  his  favor.  The  presbyters — so  the  reasoning  has  run — in 
any  important  meeting,  unless  they  unaccountably  chose  to  make 
themselves  an  exception  to  all  ordinary  rules  of  procedure,  must 
have  had  a  chairman.  And  instead  of  selecting  this  presiding 
officer  for  each  separate  meeting,  they  might  very  naturally  make 
the  office  permanent.  In  fact,  there  was  an  inherent  probability 
that  they  would  do  so.  Then,  as  the  need  of  a  stronger  or  more 
centralized  government  was  felt  (whether  wisely  or  unwisely), 
this  chairman  of  the  council,  or  board,  of  presbyters  would  rep- 
resent that  need.  He  would  be  charged  with  the  supreme  ad- 
ministrative responsibility.  For  where  was  a  more  suitable  man 
likely  to  be  found  ?  Not  among  the  other  presbyters  or  the  dea- 
cons or  the  laity.  And  what  more  suitable  application  of  names 
than  to  fix  upon  this  presiding  presbyter  the  exclusive  title  of 
bishop,  or  overseer  (which  in  itself  indicates  his  office),  and  let 
his  council  simply  retain  the  title  of  presbyters  (which  in  itself 
means  men  of  age  and  experience?" 

origin  of  the  Christian  ministry;  and  the  third  or  the  second  or  even  the 
first  quarter  of  the  second  century  has  not  been  shown  to  be  too  soon  for 
the  single  pastorship  to  appear  in  certain  churches. 

*Ep.  to  Evangelus,  i. 

-Ramsay,  in  "The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire"   (p.  367  fif.),  offers  a 


Bishop:  Origin  of  OfUce  263 

But  whether  through  a  temporary  chairmanship  or  in  some 
other  way,  there  are  good  reasons  to  beheve  that  the  bishop  did 
come  into  liis  office  by  ele^•ation  from  the  presbyterate — ^that  "one 
])resbyter  was  cliosen  to  preside  over  the  rest,"  and  at  the  same 
time  over  the  whole  congregation. 

This  \iew  is  strongly  supported  by  the  subsequent  use  of  the 
terms  "bishop"  and  "presbyter."  It  has  been  shown  that  these 
two  terms  were  at  first  interchangeable.  Later  they  were  not  in- 
terchangeable, for  all  presbyters  were  not  then  bishops.  Never- 
theless, bishops  were  still,  for  a  long  time,  called  presbyters.  We 
have  already  noticed  that  Iren?eus,  for  example,  at  the  close  of 
the  second  century,  still  speaks  of  the  bishops  as  presbyters.*  And 
in  other  writers,  both  contemporary  with  Irenaeus  and  later,  a 
similar  application  of  the  titles  may  be  seen.^ 

Of  like  significance  is  the  fact  that,  even  as  late  as  the  fifth 
century,  when  a  bishop  wrote  to  a  presbyter  it  was  customary 
to  address  him  as  a  "brother  presbyter."^ 

Now,  if  the  single  episcopate  had  been  from  the  beginning  a 
distinct  order,  or  office,  why  should  the  bishop  be  so  commonly 
called,  both  by  others  and  by  himself,  a  presbyter?  But  on  the 
supposition  that  he  began  as  the  first  among  his  brother  presby- 
ters, it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how,  even  after  this  new  form  of 
office  became  prevalent,  the  old  title  might  be  freely  applied  to 
him  still. 


somewhat  dififerent  view  of  the  development  of  the  epiaKonog  out  of  the  coun- 
cil of  irpta^vrspoi.  His  idea  is  that  when  the  presbyters  undertook  to  do  a 
certain  work  they  would  appoint  one  of  their  number  to  oversee  it,  and  this 
man  would  be  called,  accordingly,  the  overseer  (£?ri(7/co7rof,  bishop)  for  the  time. 
Inasmuch,  then,  as  any  presbyter  might  at  any  time  serve  temporarih'^  as  a 
bishop,  the  two  names  were  used  convertibly.  But  as  some  one  presbyter 
would  inevitably  show  peculiar  aptitude  for  overseeing  the  v/ork  undertaken 
by  the  council,  he  would  be  kept  permanently  in  this  office  of  oversight;  and 
thus  the  single  overseer  (bishop)  became  a  permanent  officer.  This,  whether 
true  or  not,  is  at  least  ingenious. 

^See  p.  334.  ^Lightfoot,  "The  Christian  Ministry,"  pp.  84-86. 

'"Even  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  when  the  independence  and  power 
of  the  episcopate  had  reached  its  maximum,  it  was  still  customary  for  a 
bishop  in  writing  to  a  presbyter  to  address  him  as  'fellow-presbyter,'  thus 
bearing  testimony  to  a  substantial  identity  of  office."     (Ibid.,  p.  85.) 


264  Christianity  as  Organised 

Another  proof  is  worthy  of  mention.  There  is  an  actual  and 
conspicuous  example  of  the  making  of  a  bishop  by  elevation  from 
the  presbyterate.  As  a  matter  of  historic  fact,  it  was  the  custom, 
through  a  period  of  two  hundred  years,  in  one  of  the  chief 
churches  of  the  early  centuries,  the  church  in  Alexandria,  for 
the  presbyters,  on  the  death  of  a  bishop,  to  meet  together  and 
select  his  successor  out  of  their  own  number/ 

Now  as  to  the  exact  date  at  which  the  single  episcopate  began, 
no  certain  knowledge  has  yet  been  gained.  Which  is  not  sur- 
prising, when  we  remember  that  it  arose  in  that  period  of  early 
church  history  concerning  one  of  whose  features  all  investigators 
are  absolutely  well  agreed — its  obscurity.  The  office  would  seem 
to  have  been  instituted  at  different  dates  in  different  localities ; 
first  of  all  perhaps  in  Asia  Minor.  And  inasmuch  as  Ignatius  in 
his  letters  to  the  Asian  churches  does  not  speak  of  it  as  a  new 
institution,  the  opinion  has  been  held  that  it  was  established  there 
before  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and  that  in  this  event  it 
had  the  sanction  of  the  apostle  John,  whose  last  years  were  spent 
in  the  city  of  Ephesus. 

Indeed,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Irenaeus,  and  Tertullian,  writ- 
ing a  hundred  years  later,  declare  their  acceptance  of  a  tradition 
— ^'handed  down  and  committed  to  the  custody  of  memory"— 
to  the  effect  that  the  first  bishops  of  Asia  were  appointed  by 
John.^ 

^"For  even  at  Alexandria,  from  the  time  of  Mark  the  evangelist  until  the 
episcopate  of  Heraclas  and  Dionysius,  the  presbyters  always  named  as 
bishop  one  of  their  ovi^n  number,  chosen  by  themselves  and  set  in  a  more 
exalted  position,  just  as  an  army  elects  a  general,  or  as  deacons  appoint  one 
of  themselves  whom  the}'  know  to  be  diligent,  and  call  him  archdeacon." 
(Jerome,  Ep.  to  Evangelus,  i.) 

^"Listen  to  a  tale  which  is  not  a  tale  but  a  narrative,  handed  down  and 
committed  to  the  custody  of  memory,  about  the  apostle  John.  For  when 
on  the  tyrant's  death  he  returned  to  Ephesus  from  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  he 
went  away,  being  invited,  to  the  contiguous  territories  of  the  nations,  here 
to  appoint  bishops,  there  to  set  in  order  whole  churches,  there  to  ordain 
such  as  were  marked  out  by  the  Spirit."  (Clement  of  Alexandria,  Qiiis 
Dives,  42.) 

"For  although  Marcion  rejects  his  Apocab'pse,  the  order  of  the  bishops 
[probably  the  "angels"  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  the  Revelation]  when  traced 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  265 

The  tradition  may  be  true.  But  we  are  not  here  on  historic 
ground. 

2.  Theory  of  an  Original  Difference. 

About  twenty-five  years  ago  an  ahnost  wholly  new  theory  of 
tlie  single  bishop's  origin  began  to  challenge  attention.  It  has 
engaged  the  serious  consideration  of  all  students  of  the  subject — 
though,  possibly,  less  because  of  its  intrinsic  merits  than  for  the 
sake  of  the  great  scholars'  names  under  which  it  was  put  forth. 

According  to  this  theory,  the  office  of  bishop  and  that  of 
presbvter  were  not  originally  one  and  the  same.  On  the  contrary, 
from  the  very  beginning  of  their  official  existence  the  bishop  had 
charge  of  the  finances  of  the  congregation  and  the  conduct  of 
public  worship,  being  assisted  in  the  performance  of  his  duties 
by  the  deacons,  while  the  presbyter  had  charge  of  discipline — 
with  no  assistants. 

The  germ  out  of  which  these  ideas  grew  was  furnished  by  the 
brilliant  and  lamented  scholar,  Dr.  Edwin  Hatch,  in  the  Bampton 
Lectures  for  1880  ("The  Organization  of  the  Early  Christian 
Churches").  These  Lectures  emphasized  very  forcibly  two  quite 
distinct  official  functions  in  the  early  Church — namely,  financial 
administration  and  discipline.  They  showed,  more  clearly  per- 
hajis  than  any  previous  treatise  had  shown,  how  imperative  was 
the  demand  for  the  exercise  of  each  of  these  two  functions.  And 
here,  it  is  maintained,  may  be  found  the  origin  of  the  two  titles, 
bishop  and  presbyter.  That  is  to  say,  there  was  a  body  of  officers 
in  the  Church  who  performed  both  these  distinctly  different  func- 
tions ;  and  hence  they  were  called  by  two  names.  When  the 
idea  of  financial  administration  was  in  the  speaker's  or  writer's 
mind,  they  were  called  bishops ;  when  the  idea  of  discipline  was 

up  to  their  origin,  will  rest  upon  John  as  their  author."  (Tertullian,  "Against 
Marcion,"  Iv.  5.     See  also  his  "Prescription  against  Heretics,"  32.) 

"But  Polycarp  also  was  not  only  instructed  by  apostles,  and  conversed 
with  many  who  had  seen  Christ,  but  was  also  by  apostles  in  Asia  Minor 
appointed  bishop  of  the  church  in  Smyrna,  whom  I  also  saw  in  my  early 
youth."     (Irenaeus,  "Against  Heresies,"  iii.  3,  4.) 

Lightfoot,  "The  Christian  Ministry,"  pp.  56-60. 


266  Christianity  as  Organized 


<i>" 


in  his  mind,  they  were  called  presbyters/  So  far  the  Bampton 
Lecturer. 

These  Lectures,  soon  after  their  publication,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  famous  young  church  historian,  Dr.  Adolph  Harnack, 
who  translated  them  into  German,  with  additions  of  his  own. 
Harnack,  taking  up  the  idea  of  the  two  ecclesiastical  functions 
that  Hatch  had  shown  to  be  so  important  and  so  diverse  as  to 
give  rise  to  the  two  names  bishop  and  presbyter,  carried  it  still 
further.  He  supposed  not  merely  two  functions,  but  two  sep- 
arate and  distinct  offices,  from  the  first.  True,  the  same  person 
might  fill  both  offices,  and  no  doubt  in  many  instances  did  so. 
In  fact,  the  bishop  had,  as  such,  a  seat  in  the  council  of  presby- 
ters ;  and  hence  all  bishops  were  also  presbyters,  though  we  are 
not  to  suppose  that  all  presbyters  were  bishops.  But,  however 
this  might  be,  the  two  offices  were  not  the  same :  the  episcopate 
was  always  one  off.ce  and  the  presbyterate  another." 

The  considerations  that  have  been  urged  in  favor  of  this  view 
are,  baldly  stated,  as  follows :  ( i )  It  does  away  with  the  necessity 

^"They  [church  officers]  were  known  individually  as  well  as  collectively 
by  a  name  that  was  common  to  the  members  of  the  Jewish  awedpia  and  to 
the  members  of  the  Greek  yepovaiai  of  Asia  Minor — that  of  TrpeafivTepoi:  they 
were  also  known — for  I  shall  here  assume  what  the  weight  of  evidence  has 
rendered  practically  indisputable — by  the  name  kniaaonoL.  In  their  general  ca- 
pacity as  a  governing  body  they  were  known  by  names  which  were  in  cur- 
rent use  for  a  governing  body :  in  their  special  capacity  as  administrators  of 
church  funds  they  were  known  by  a  name  which  was  in  current  use  for  such 
administrators."  (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp. 
38,  39.) 

^Harnack,  in  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Art.  "Presbyter ;"  Discussions  on  the  "^ 
origin  of  the  Christian  ministry,  in  The  Expositor,  Vols.  V.  and  VI.,  Third 
Series,  by  Harnack,  Sanday,  Salmon,  Gore,  and  others. 

"The  presbj'ters  form  the  council  of  the  community,  constituting  its  gov- 
ernment ;  they  have  as  their  principal  mission  the  care  of  souls — that  is  to 
say,  a  wholly  moral  and  religious  function.  The  bishops,  on  the  contrary, 
direct  the  temporal  {matcrieUc)  administration,  inspect  the  general  working 
of  the  society,  see  to  the  application  of  its  statutes  and  regulations,  and  are 
brought  by  their  very  occupations  to  represent  the  community  in  its  relations 
with  the  outside  world ;  they  have  a  function  above  all  administrative  and 
disciplinary.  These  differences  are  clear-cut  enough  not  to  permit  us  to 
identify  the  presbyters  and  the  bishops."  (Reville,  "Les  Origines  de  L'  Epis- 
copat,"  p.  313.) 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  267 

of  supposing  two  names  for  the  same  officer.  (2)  It  is  com- 
mended by  the  fact  that  bishops  and  deacons  are  uniformly  men- 
tioned together  botli  in  the  New  Testament  and  in  subsequent 
writings,  as  if  they  were  somehow  closely  associated,  while  the 
same  thing  is  not  true  of  presbyters  and  deacons.  (3)  The  chief 
financial  officer  of  certain  non-Christian  societies  was  called  in 
some  instances  an  cTrt'o-KOTros,  and  thus  the  choice  of  this  name  for 
the  ecclesiastic  financial  administrator  may  be  the  better  account- 
ed for,  (4)  Financial  administration  was  a  function  of  peculiar 
importance  in  the  early  Christian  communities ;  for  it  meant  the 
care  of  the  numerous  poor  in  an  age  when  the  Church  was  pre- 
eminently a  ciiaritable  institution.  Besides,  it  was  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  conduct  of  the  love  feast  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
at  which  the  people's  offerings  were  made.  Hence  when  the  sin- 
gle ruler  of  the  congregation  appeared,  it  was  to  be  expected  that 
he  should  be  called  bishop  rather  than  presbyter. 

To  most  students  of  the  Christian  ministry,  however,  the  argu- 
ment seems  to  have  proved  unsatisfactory.  Such  considerations 
as  the  following  have  set  themselves  against  it :  ( i )  That  there 
should  be  two  ap]:)ropriate  names  for  the  same  officer,  in  a 
formative  state  of  church  organization,  even  if  both  are  used 
more  or  less  technically,  needs  no  special  explanation  or  apology. 
(2)  The  uniform  use  of  the  term  bishop,  instead  of  presbyter, 
in  connection  with  deacons,  may  be  without  significance,  though 
there  is  also  a  fitness  in  coupling  the  two  ideas  of  overseer  and 
servant.  Besides,  Polycarp  ("To  the  Philippians,"  5)  does  use 
the  terms  presbyter  and  deacon  together.  (3)  The  evidence  for 
the  contemporary  non-Christian  iTTLaKOTro^  is  not  sufficient  to 
make  him  more  than  "a  rather  shadowy  and  indefinite  person- 
age." Then,  too,  there  are  stronger  reasons  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  the  term  from  the  Septuagint^  than  from  the  con- 

^As,  for  example,  from  such  passages  as  the  following:  Numbers  iv.  i6, 
"Eleazar,  son  of  Aaron  the  priest,  is  overseer  {kiriaKoizoQ):  the  oil  for  the  light 
and  the  mixed  incense  and  the  daily  sacrifice  and  the  oil  for  anointing,  the 
oversight  (^  emaKOTr^)  of  all  the  tabernacle  and  whatsoever  is  in  it;"  xxxi. 
14,   "And   ]\Toses   was   angry   with   the   overseers    (fTt  Tolg  knioKo^oig)    of   the 


268  Christianity  as  Organised 

teniporaneous  Grseco-Roman  sources.  (4)  Apart  from  the  im- 
portance of  the  financial  feature  (upon  which  Hatch  is  inclined 
to  lay  an  overemphasis)  in  the  early  Christian  churches,  overseer 
would  be  a  more  fitting  name  than  presbyter,  for  the  single  ruler. 
(5)  The  Christian  bishop  was  from  the  first  much  more  "a  su- 
perintendent of  persons"  than  "an  overseer  of  funds." 

Moreover,  the  advocate  of  this  theory  will  be  asked  to  show 
how  it  is  that  presbyters  as  well  as  bishops  are  charged  with 
financial  oversight  in  the  New  Testament.' 

And  still  again,  this  theory  has  not  offered  an  acceptable  ex- 
planation of  certain  close  associations  of  the  titles  presbyter  and 
bishop  in  the  New  Testament.  For  example,  no  explanation  that 
has  been  proposed  leaves  it  otherwise  than  unclear  how  presby- 
ters should  in  Acts  xx.  17,  28  and  Titus  i.  5,  7  be  distinctly  called 
bishops. 

Briefly,  the  older  view  promises  to  commend  itself  still  as  the 
truer. 

3.  Theory  of  Origination  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  third  theory  is  the  following:  The  bishop's  office,  which 
from  the  first  was  not  a  plural  but  a  single  episcopate,  originated 
at  the  Lord's  table.  It  was  at  first  simply  the  office  of  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  distribution  of  the  gifts 
there  offered.  And  as  to  tlie  presbyters,  they  were  not  office- 
bearers at  all,  but  only  the  honored  old  men  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity.^ 

In  case  of  there  being  a  charismatically  gifted  man  (an  apostle 
or  prophet  or  teacher)  in  the  congregation,  it  was  he  who  pre- 
sided at  the  Lord's  table  and  distributed  the  gifts;  but  lacking 
such  a  leader,  the  congregation  elected  a  bishop  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency.   Accordingly  when  the  Didache  says,  for  instance,  "Ap- 

forces."  (2  Kings  xi.  15;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  12,  17;  Neh.  xi.  9,  14,  22;  Isa.  Ix. 
17;  I  Mac.  i.  51.) 

^Acts  xi.  30. 

^This  is  the  theory  of  Sohm  in  his  "Kirchenrecht,"  as  interpreted  with 
some  modification  and  development  by  Lowrie  in  "The  Church  and  Its  Or- 
ganisation." 


Bishop:  Origin  of  OMce  269 

point  for  yourselves  bishops  and  deacons,  .  ,  .  for  they  too 
render  you  the  service  of  the  prophets  and  teachers"  (c.  15), 
tlie  meaning  is  not  that  tlie  bishops  and  deacons  as  well  as  the 
prophets  and  teachers  teach,  but  that  they  as  well  as  the  prophets 
and  teachers  preside  and  administer  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  But 
the  bishop,  taking  the  teacher's  place  there  as  an  administrative 
officer,  was  also  expected  to  take  his  place,  if  possible,  as  a 
teacher — to  do  such  teaching  as  he  might  be  capable  of.  Indeed, 
the  administration  of  the  Eucharist  was  itself  regarded  as  a 
teaching.  So  the  episcopal  office  was  from  the  beginning  an 
office  of  teaching,  and  not  (as  Harnack  and  some  others  have 
regarded  it)  a  purely  administrative  office. 

Now  for  the  office  of  this  teacher  and  administrator,  this  "bish- 
op," there  was  always  chosen  one  of  the  older  men,  which  is  all 
that  is  meant  in  the  New  Testament  by  presbyters  of  the  Church. 

Bishops  and  presbyters,  then,  did  not  fill  one  and  the  same  of- 
fice (as  Jerome  and  Lightfoot  would  say),  nor  did  they  fill  two 
different  and  disparate  offices  (as  Harnack  would  say).  There 
was  but  one  office,  that  of  bishop:  the  presbyters  were  simply  the 
"honorables"  of  the  Church,  out  of  whose  number  the  bishop  was 
regularly  elected. 

Furthermore,  inasmuch  as  only  one  bishop,  or  presiding  officer 
at  the  Lord's  table,  was  needed  in  a  congregation,  it  is  not  to  be 
sup])Osed  that  there  were  more  than  one.  And  if  it  be  asked, 
Why,  then,  are  they  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  in  the  plural 
(as  they  always  are,  with  one  apparent  though  not  real  excep- 
tion—  T  Tim.  iii.  2)  the  answer  must  be,  that  in  all  such  cases 
it  is  implied  that  in  the  city  to  which  reference  is  had  (say, 
Ephesus  or  Philippi)  there  were  more  than  one  congregation,  or 
church,  and  the  bishops  of  them  all  collectively  are  intended. "" 

^This  last  idea  is  one  of  Lowrie's  additions  to  the  "Kirchenrecht :"  "Sohm 
(pp.  116,  119)  adds  that  as  there  were  several  bishops  in  one  church  no 
one  of  them  could  claim  an  exclusive  right  over  the  Eucharist.  This  may 
be  a  correct  inference  from  the  plurality  of  bishops;  but,  for  my  part,  I  find 
it  difficult  to  conceive  that  such  a  state  of  things  could  have  existed  without 
disorder.     ...     It  seems  to  me  more  probable  that  the  plurality  of  bishops 


270  Chrisfianify  as  Organised 

In  criticism  of  this  theory  one  must  be  permitted  to  say  that 
far  more  is  assumed  or  obtained  through  hint  or  suggestion  than 
is  proved. 

Besides,  the  episcopal  office,  as  here  presented,  is  not  large 
enough  to  fit  the  description  of  the  bishop,  that  caretaker  of  the 
Church,  in  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus. 

Again,  it  is  distinctly  stated  in  the  New  Testament  that  pres- 
byters were  appointed,  formally  set  apart,  to  their  office.*  Hence 
they  could  not  have  been  merely  "honorables,"  unofficial  elderly 
men.  And  the  explanation  offered — namely,  that  when  presby- 
ters are  spoken  of  in  these  passages  as  appointed  (xf-i-poToviw, 
KaOidTqixi)  the  meaning  is  that  they,  being  already  presb}ters,  were 
appointed  bishops — is  quite  inadmissible.  Neither  the  English 
translation  nor  the  Greek  text  will  bear  such  a  construction. 

Still  again,  the  theory  is  attended  with  a  serious  difficulty  in 
connection  with  the  rise  of  diocesan  episcopacy  in  the  cities. 
For  it  implies  that,  in  this  case,  the  outlying  congregations  were 
originally  presided  over  by  bishops,  all  of  whom  gave  up  their 
offices,  apparently  without  objection  or  complaint,  to  the  pres- 
byters who  were  later  appointed  in  their  place  by  the  bishop  of 
the  mother  congregation.     Would  they  be  likely  to  do  so?" 

corresponded  to  a  plurality  of  assemblies,  which  were  more  or  less  definitely 
distinguished."     (Lowrie,  "The  Church  and  Its  Organization,"  p.  367,  n.) 

*Acts  xiv.  23 ;  Titus  i.  5,  6. 

*"I  do  not  pretend  to  explain  how  the  extra  bishops  were  got  rid  of;  but 
whatever  the  process  may  have  been,  the  accomplishment  could  have  hardly 
been  more  difficult  than  the  subsequent  absorption  of  the  country  bishops  in 
the  presbytery,  and  their  deposition  to  a  rank  lower  than  that  of  the  city 
presbyter."  (Lowrie,  "The  Church  and  Its  Organization,"  p.  307.)  To  the 
ordinary  student  of  church  history  the  former  "accomplishment"  would  prob- 
ably be  considiered  decidedly  more  difficult  than  the  latter. 

"Starting  with  the  assumption  of  the  original  identity  of  bishops  and  pres- 
byters, the  development  of  the  single  episcopate  is  left  an  insoluble  mystery; 
for,  leaving  all  facts  aside,  and  giving  the  freest  rein  to  the  imagination,  it 
is  impossible  to  propose  any  plausible  process  whereby,  in  the  short  space  of 
time  allowed  for  the  revolution,  one  of  the  bishops  could  have  been  elevated 
to  a  position  relative  to  the  rest  like  that  of  Christ  above  his  Apostles." 
(Ibid.,  p.  294.)  To  some  minds  a  still  freer  rein  to  the  imagination  would 
be  required  in  order  to  propose  a  plausible  process  in  which  in  this  and  that 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  271 

4.  True  Significance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  Devel- 
opment OF  THE  Episcopate. 

Here,  then,  arc  three  theories  put  forward  to  explain  the  origin 
of  the  single  episcopate — one  very  old,  the  other  two  of  recent 
date.  After  the  most  careful  and  open-minded  study,  we  shall 
probably  be  unable  to  see  in  either  of  the  latter  two  the  truth 
value  which  it  possesses  in  the  eyes  of  its  advocates.  But  a  lead- 
ing fact  to  which  they  both  call  attention — namely,  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  development  of  the  episcopal 
office — seems  worthy  of  greater  emphasis  than  has  been  given 
it  in  the  older  theory. 

Let  us  look  at  this  for  a  moment.  The  Lord's  Supper  was 
the  distinctive  rite  of  Christian  congregational  worship.  More- 
over, it  was  fitting  and  expedient  that  some  one  person  should 
preside  at  its  celebration.  Was  it  not  the  custom  for  the  head  of 
a  family  to  break  bread  at  table,  returning  thanks  to  the  Divine 
Giver,  and  offer  it  to  his  household  and  his  guests?  Did  not  our 
Lord  himself  at  the  Last  Supper  take  the  bread  and  wine,  having 
offered  thanks,  and  give  them  to  his  disciples?^  Therefore  both 
the  breaking  of  the  bread  and  the  offering  of  the  thanksgiving 
(which  was  so  prominent  a  function  as  to  give  its  most  common 
name,  the  Eucharist,  to  the  Supper)  would  probably  belong  to 
the  president's  ofifice.  And  would  he  not  be  acting  in  the  Mas- 
ter's own  place,  representing  him? 

But  who  should  this  president  be?  A  prophetic  teacher,  no 
doubt,  if  one  were  present  in  the  congregation;  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  churches  in  the  early  period  was  distinctly  charis- 
matic. But  in  the  second  century,  it  may  be  supposed,  the  con- 
gregation was  often  without  a  prophetic  teacher.  In  such  a  case, 
what  could  be  better  than  to  elect  a  president  to  take  his  place  ? 

Then,  too,  the  man  who  presided  on  this  supreme  occasion  of 
worship  and  communion  would  most  naturally  be  intrusted  with 

city  of  Christendom  a  plurality  of  bishops  could  have  been  reduced  to  one 
single  bishop  "in  the  short  space  of  time  allowed  for  the  revolution." 
'Mark  xiv.  22,  23;  Luke  xxii.  19. 


2/2  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  church's  property.  For  this  property  consisted  not,  as  in 
later  times,  of  grounds  and  buildings,  but  of  regularly  contrib- 
uted supplies  for  the  need}'=^that  is  to  say,  of  the  freewill  offer- 
ings of  food  that  were  brought  to  the  Lord's  table.  These,  to- 
gether with  one  or  more  books  of  Scripture — which,  in  some 
cases,  were  doubtless  owned  by  a  congregation — seem  to  have 
been  the  whole  of  the  Church's  "wealth"  in  those  earliest  days. 
There  it  lay — brought  to  the  meeting-room,  placed  upon  the 
Lord's  table,  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor,  whether  these 
were  officers  or  simply  members  of  the  church.' 

Again,  the  presidency  at  the  Lord's  Supper  would  tend  to  carry 
with  it  the  exercise  of  discipline.  For  the  most  commonly  in- 
flicted penalty  was  exclusion  from  the  Lord's  table;  and  it  might 
easily  become  the  custom  (and  in  due  course  of  time  the  law) 
that  this  penalty  should  be  both  adjudged  and  executed  by  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  eucharistic  assembly. 

Now  the  combination  of  these  three  functions,  the  liturgic,  the 
financial,  and  the  judicial — leadership  in  worship,  the  treasure- 
ship  of  the  church,  the  exercise  of  discipline — constituted  the 

^■'When  the  reader  of  the  Scriptures  has  ceased,"  says  Justin  in  a  classic 
passage,  "the  president  orally  instructs  and  exhorts  to  the  imitation  of  these 
good  things.  Then  we  all  rise  together  and  pray,  and,  as  we  before  said, 
when  our  prayer  is  ended,  bread  and  wine  and  water  are  brought,  and  the 
president  in  like  manner  offers  prayers  and  thanksgiving  according  to  his 
ability,  and  the  people  assent  by  saying  Amen.  And'there  is  a  distribution  to 
each,  and  a  participation  of  that  over  which  thanks  have  been  given,  and  to 
those  who  are  absent  a  portion  is  sent  by  the  deacons.  And  they  who  are 
well-to-do  and  willing  give  what  each  thinks  fit,  and  what  is  collected  is  de- 
posited with  the  president,  who  succors  the  orphans  and  widows  and  those  in 
sickness  or  want,  the  prisoners  and  strangers  among  us." 

Somewhat  later,  references  are  made  to  contributions  in  money  as  well 
as  in  kind :  "We  have  our  treasure-chest.  .  .  .  On  the  monthly  day,  if 
he  likes,  each  puts  in  a  small  donation ;  but  only  if  it  be  his  pleasure,  and 
only  if  he  be  able :  for  there  is  no  compulsion ;  all  is  voluntary.  These  gifts 
are,  as  it  were,  piety's  deposit  fund."     (Tertullian,  Apol.  XXXIX.) 

"If  thou  art  not  able  to  cast  anything  considerable  into  the  Corban  [offer- 
ing], yet  at  least  bestow  upon  the  strangers  one,  or  two,  or  five  mites." 
(Const.  Apost.  II.  v.  36.) 

This  development  may  be  regarded  as  inevitable.  Compare  the  Jews'  of- 
ferings at  the  altar  and  at  the  treasury  of  the  Temple. 


Bishop:  Origin  of  Office  273 

highest  office  in  the  congregation.  Shall  it  be  filled  by  several 
office-bearers  in  rotation?  Rather  let  one  of  them,  the  most 
highly  gifted  and  trustworthy,  be  regularly  charged  with  this 
responsibility.  Let  the  office  be  made  permanent.  At  all  events, 
it  seems  to  have  become  so,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  middle 
of  the  second  century. 

Now,  then,  what  was  the  situation,  as  thus  conceived?  In  the 
first  place,  there  was  needed  a  presiding  officer  of  the  presby- 
ters, "to  remedy  schism"  (as  Jerome  says),  and  to  secure  a  more 
efficient  executive.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  needed  a  pre- 
siding officer  of  the  congregation  in  time  of  worship,  to  take 
charge  of  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  of  the 
people's  offerings  (as  Justin  Martyr  shows).  But  these  two 
little  presidencies  were  similar  in  their  requirements,  and  might 
be  filled  by  the  same  man.  Accordingly  the  same  man  was  ap- 
pointed to  both,  either  by  the  presbyters  or  by  presbyters  and 
people  conjointly ;  and  thus  he  became  the  single  pastoral  over- 
seer of  the  congregation.  So  the  two  needs,  we  may  imagine, 
called  unitedly  for  the  one  congregational  bishop. 

Shall  we  listen  to  still  another  attempted  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion— namely,  that  the  original  Apostles  ordained  the  first  bish- 
ops, conferring  upon  them  the  exclusive  power  of  ordaining  oth- 
ers, and  thus  constituting  a  line  of  ordinations  for  all  bishops 
throughout  the  subsequent  ages? 

This  is  the  theory  of  "apostolic  succession,''  which  will  form 
the  subject  of  the  next  two  chapters. 
18 


XL 

UNITY:  APOSTOLIC  SUCCESSION. 

The  phrase  "apostolic  succession"  is  used  in  two  principal 
senses.  It  may  mean  that  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles  there 
has  been  a  threefold  ministry  in  the  Church — deacons,  presbyters, 
and  bishops;  that  the  bishops  occupy  the  office  of  general  over- 
sight to  which  the  original  Apostles  were  appointed  by  the  Lord ; 
that  they  have  been  ordained  to  their  office  in  a  line  of  descent 
reaching  back  to  the  Apostles  themselves,  with  authority  to  or- 
dain their  successors  even  unto  the  end  of  time;  and  that  this 
therefore  is  the  only  regular  and  orderly  mode  of  church  govern- 
ment, and  ought  to  be  universally  followed. 

The  advocate  of  this  theory  will  not  necessarily  assert  that 
there  have  been  no  breaks  in  the  line  of  episcopal  ordinations. 
He  may  regard  it  as  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  such  ir- 
regularities have  occurred.  But  this  does  not  invalidate  the 
claim  of  the  apostolic  succession,  as  he  understands  it.  Because 
this  succession  is  essentially  not  tactual  but  corporate,  not  person- 
al but  institutional.  That  is  to  say,  if  he  can  show  that  it  has 
been  uniformly  maintained  in  any  church  from  the  beginning, 
despite  temporary  irregularities,  actual  or  possible,  in  the  matter 
of  ordinatioii  to  the  episcopate,  such  a  church  is  truly  regular, 
catholic,  apostolic' 

But  a  like  claim  must  not  be  made  for  any  other  church.  The 
lack  of  this  kind  of  episcopate  leaves  other  religious  bodies  sim- 

^"^'They  declare  that  'it  is  evident  to  all  men,  diligently  reading  Holy  Scrip- 
ture and  ancient  authors,  that  from  the  Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these 
orders  of  ministers  in  Christ's  Church — Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons.' 
While  they  do  not  assert  that  this  arrangement  is  the  result  of  a  categorical 
command  of  Christ,  still  they  hold  it  to  be  of  so  potent  obligation  that  it 
may  not  be  changed  except  for  weightier  reasons  than  have  as  yet  been 
ofifered."  (McConnell,  "History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,"  pp. 
174,  175.) 

(274) 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  275 

ply  "religious  bodies,"  or  at  best  "societies  of  Christians."  Only 
through  a  distressing  misnomer  can  they  be  called  churches. 
Hence  their  ministers  are  not  invited  to  preach  or  to  take  any 
part  in  the  conduct  of  worship  and  the  administration  of  sacra- 
ments in  an  episcopal  church.  This  theory,  laying  supreme  em- 
phasis upon  the  antiquity  and  continuity  of  the  bishop's  office, 
and  not  upon  his  personal  derivation  of  authority  through  an  ab- 
solutely unbroken  tactual  line  of  descent  from  the  Apostles,  is 
preferably  known  by  the  newer  and  less  definite  name  of  the 
"historic  episcopate."^ 

The  other  theory  is  purely  personal,  derivative,  and  sacerdotal. 
The  Twelve  Apostles  possessed  within  themselves  all  ministerial 
powers  and  offices,  as  a  bestowment  direct  from  Christ ;  and  by 
detaching  these  in  different  measures,  as  rays  of  light  from  the 
sun  or  streams  from  a  fountain,  they  created  three  classes  of 
officers  in  the  Church — namely,  deacons,  priests,  and  bishops; 
to  the  bishops  only  they  gave  the  power  of  ordination;  bishops 
of  the  present  day  have  come  down  in  an  unbroken  line  from  the 
Apostles,  and  through  them  from  Christ  himself ;  they  are  there- 
by invested  with  supreme  governing  power  and  with  exclusive 
ordaining  power  in  the  Church ;  and  the  highest  significance  of 
their  successional  standing  is,  that  it  constitutes  them  a  channel 
of  actual  divine  grace  received  through  the  original  Apostles  and 
their  successors,  and  by  these  Apostles  immediately  from  Christ. 
Accordingly  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  confirmation  they  can 
impart  "that  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  the  essence  of  the 

^"The  bishops  at  Chicago  and  at  Lambeth  spoke  of  the  'historic  episco- 
pate.' That  phrase  has  room  enough  for  all  varieties  of  opinion.  It  is  the 
assertion  of  a  fact.  There  is  such  a  form  of  ecclesiastical  government,  which 
exists  to-day  and  has  existed  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Church, 
as  the  historic  episcopate.  There  is  an  institutional  theory  about  it,  which 
they  may  hold  who  will.  There  is  also  a  successional  theory  about  it,  which 
they  may  hold  who  will.  Each  of  these  theories  can  quote  texts  out  of  the 
Bible  and  out  of  the  Prayer  Book.  But  neither  the  doctrine  of  apostolic 
evolution  nor  the  doctrine  of  apostolic  succession  is  set  forth  by  authority. 
The  Church,  instead  of  asserting  that  our  way  is  either  the  best  way  or  the 
only  way,  is  content  to  affirm  the  simple  fact,  easily  tested  by  history,  that 
ours  is  the  old  way."     (Hodges,  "The  Episcopal  Church,"  p.  35.) 


276  Christianity  as  Organised 

Christian  life.''  Also,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  ordination, 
they  can  impart  that  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  ''grace  of  Holy 
Orders,"  which  makes  men  not  simply  ministers  but  priests,  em- 
powered to  offer  up  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  sacrifice,  and  in  their 
turn  to  impart  grace  to  those  who  receive  this  sacrament  at  their 
hands.  In  a  word,  the  Christian  ministry  is,  in  the  literal  sense 
of  the  word,  a  priesthood,  and  there  is  a  divinely  ordained  order 
of  bishop-priests  by  whom  only  it  can  be  perpetuated  and  gov- 
erned. 

Without  this  form  of  the  episcopate,  then,  there  can  be  no 
valid  Christian  ministry  nor  Lord's  Supper,  no  covenanted  grace, 
no  Church.  Imagine  all  the  bishop-priests  to  die — say,  by  the 
hand  of  violence,  in  time  of  persecution — and  though  all  the  rest 
of  the  officers  and  all  the  laity  should  survive  and  be  perpetuated 
through  the  coming  years,  the  Church  of  Christ  would  be  extinct 
on  earth.  There  would  only  remain  "bodies  of  Christians,"  with 
no  valid  ministry  or  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  or  covenant- 
ed grace,  and  capable  therefore  of  doing  only  such  service  for  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  as — mere  bodies  of  Christians 
are  doing  to-day ! 

This  is  the  theory  of  apostolic  succession  that  is  held  by  the 
Ritualists  of  the  Church  of  England  and  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church.^     It  includes  the  whole  claim  of  the  historic  epis- 

^"The  Apostles,  thus  invested  with  the  plenitude  of  ministerial  power,  de- 
tached from  themselves  in  the  form  of  distinct  grades  or  orders  of  ministry, 
so  much  as  was  needed,  at  successive  epochs,  for  building  up  and  supporting 
the  Church."     (Liddon,  "Clerical  Life  and  Work,"  p.  293.) 

"That  the  special  priestly  powers  descend  by  due  imposition  of  hands 
from  the  Apostles,  and  may  not  be  invaded  without  sacrilege,  we  hold  as 
one  of  the  chief  pillars  of  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  Christ."  (Mo- 
berly,  "The  Administration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  pp.  201,  202.) 

"Under  the  Christian  dispensation  the  succession  to  the  ministry  is  .  .  . 
a  succession  communicated  from  Christ  through  the  Apostles  by  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  connection  with  an  external  individual  call  given  by 
those  who  have  themselves  received  it."  (Seabury,  "Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  p.  87.) 

"What  man  receives  in  Christ  is  the  very  life  of  God.  Here,  again,  each 
Christian  receives  the  gift  as  an  endowment  of  his  own  personal  life.  .  .  . 
But  the   individual   life   can   receive  this  fellowship  with   God  only  through 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  277 

copate,  and  much  more.  Therefore  it  alone  will  call  for  con- 
sideration in  our  present  inquiry. 

I.   Its  History  in  the  Church  of  England. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  apostolic  succession,  as  thus  defined, 
has  never  been  so  strongly  emphasized  by  any  church  as  by  the 
school  of  the  English  and  the  American  Ritualists.  The  Ortho- 
dox Eastern  Church  claims  this  succession,  but  not  so  much  on 
the  ground  of  external  derivation  from  the  Apostles  as  on  that 
of  a  continuity  of  apostolic  teaching.  This  Church  takes  ortho- 
doxy as  evidence  of  the  true  succession  rather  than  the  true 
succession  as  evidence  of  orthodoxy.  And  its  theologians  teach 
that,  in  the  case  of  heresy  or  schism,  the  "grace  of  holy  orders" 
tends  to  decline,  and  may  be  wholly  lost.^  The  Roman  Church 
claims  this  succession  distinctly,  unequivocally.  But  it  includes 
the  bishop  in  the  order  of  priesthood,  than  which  it  acknowledges 
no  higher  "holy  order."  Moreover,  it  rests  the  commission  of 
both  bishops  and  priests  upon  the  immediate  authority  of  the 
Church — that  is  to  say,  of  the  pope — rather  than  upon  their 
tactual  apostolic  descent.  The  Church  of  England  claims  the 
"succession"  in  the  ecclesiastic,  or  institutional,  but  not  in  the 
personal  and  sacerdotal,  sense.  The  personal  and  sacerdotal  dog- 
,ma.  does,  it  is  true,  prevail  to  a  large  extent  in  this  Church;  but 
not  in  her  Articles  nor  Ordinal  nor  Homilies  is  it  taught.  Nor 
do  either  the  Low  Churchmen  or  the  Broad  Churchmen  be- 
lieve it. 

The  fact  is  that  this  High-Church,  or  sacerdotal,  theory  of 
apostolic  succession  does  not  seem  to  have  been  originally  ad- 
vocated in  the  English  Church.  Very  early,  indeed,  there  wert 
two  schools  or  parties  in  the  Church — the  Anglicans,  who  were 
favorable  to  the  episcopal  office,  and  the  Puritans,  who  would 

membership  in  the  one  body  and  by  dependence  upon  social  sacraments  of 
regeneration,  of  confirmation,  of  communion,  of  absolution — of  which  or- 
dained ministers  are  the  appointed  instruments."  (Gore,  "Church  and  Min- 
istry," pp.  84,  85.) 

^Fortescue,  "The  Orthodox  Eastern  Church,"  p.  261. 


2/8  Christianity  as  Organized 

have  discarded  it.  The  reign  of  EHzabeth  was  a  period  of  con- 
trovers)^  between  these  two  parties.  And  in  this  long  contention 
the  Puritan  position — as  represented,  for  example,  by  its  chief 
champion,  Thomas  Cartwright — was  that  of  the  divine  right  of 
presbytery.  This  form  of  government  and  no  other — so  Cart- 
wright  held — was  scriptural  and  obligatory.  The  Anglican  po- 
sition, on  the  contrary — as  represented  by  Cartwright's  chief 
opponent,  Archbishop  Whitgift — was  that  of  ecclesiastic  free- 
dom. The  Scriptures — so  Whitgift  held — make  no  particular 
form  of  government  obligatory  upon  the  Church ;  and  as  to  epis- 
copacy, it  is  a  primitive  polity,  agreeable  to  the  Scriptures,  al- 
ready established  in  the  realm  of  England,  and  therefore  not  to 
be  abandoned.  But  that  this  episcopal  polity  is  a  universally  ob- 
ligatory institute  of  Christ,  or  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  very 
existence  of  the  Church,  was  not  maintained — only  that  it  is 
scriptural  and  expedient. 

In  entire  harmony  with  this  view  are  the  Articles  of  Religion 
in  whatever  they  declare  concerning  the  Church,  its  ministers, 
its  ordinances,  or  any  other  subject.  Take,  for  example,  the 
definition  of  the  Church  as  given  in  Article  XIX. :  "The  [appro- 
priately, ay  Church  of  Christ  is  a  congregation  of  faithful  men, 
in  the  which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  sacra- 
ments be  duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in 
all  those  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the  same.""  Prob- 

^It  has  been  conjectured  that  this  inaccuracy  arose  from  the  inattentive 
use  of  the  definite  instead  of  the  indefinite  article  in  translating  from  the 
Latin — in  which  language  the  Articles  of  Religion  are  supposed  to  have 
been  written — the  words  Ecclesia  Cliristi  visibilis.  But  the  perpetuation  of 
so  obvious  an  error  is  rather  surprising. 

^Burnet,  in  his  exposition  of  the  twenty-third  Article  of  Religion,  says 
that  if  in  a  case  of  real  necessity  a  company  of  Christians  should  frame  a 
"regulated  constitution,"  appointing  ministers  and  forming  a  church  of  their 
own,  "this  is  not  condemned  or  annulled  by  this  Article,  .  .  .  whatever 
some  hotter  spirits  have  thought."  "We  are  very  sure,"  he  continues,  "that 
not  only  those  who  penned  the  Articles,  but  the  body  of  this  Church  for 
about  half  an  age  after  did,  notwithstanding  these  irregularities,  acknowledge 
the  foreign  churches  so  constituted  to  be  true  churches  in  all  the  essentials 
of  a  church,  though  they  had  been  irregularly  formed  and  continued  still  to 
be  in  an  imperfect  state."     ("Exposition  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles.") 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  279 

ably  no  bishop  of  the  time  held  any  other  view  of  the  Church 
and  its  government/  Accordingly  during  this  period  the  Re- 
formed Churches  of  the  Continent  were  admitted  into  fraternal 
relations  with  the  English  Churcli,  and  their  ministerial  orders 
recognized  as  valid."  Ministers  who  had  been  ordained  presby- 
ters in  these  churches,  as  also  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  were 
received  into  tlie  English  Church  and  appointed  without  reordi- 
nation  to  various  charges/ 


'Hooker  was  a  strenuous  upholder  of  the  apostolic  origin  of  the  episco- 
pacy. Nevertheless  he  held  it  to  be  subject,  like  any  other  matter  of  gov- 
ernment, to  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  which,  for  good  and  sufficient  rea- 
sons, might  change  or  discontinue  it.  For  example,  in  his  exposition  of 
Jerome's  famous  assertion  of  the  origin  of  the  episcopacy  by  elevation  from 
the  presbyterate,  he  says :  "Forasmuch  as  the  whole  body  of  the  Church  hath 
pozver  to  alter,  with  general  consent  and  upon  necessary  occasions,  even  the 
positive  lazi's  of  the  Apostles,  if  there  be  no  command  to  the  contrary;  and 
it  manifestly  appears  to  her  that  change  of  times  hath  taken  away  the  very 
reasons  of  God's  first  institution,  as  by  sundry  examples  may  be  most  clearly 
proved;  what  law^s  the  universal  Church  might  change  and  doth  not,  if  they 
have  long  continued  without  any  alteration,  it  seemeth  that  St.  Jerome 
ascribeth  continuance  of  such  positive  laws,  though  instituted  by  God  him- 
self, to  the  judgment  of  the  Church."  ("Ecc.  Polity,"  Bk.  VII.,  sec.  5.  See 
also  sec.  14.) 

■"The  idea  of  the  exclusive  validity  of  episcopal  orders  was  not  generally 
entertained  at  that  time  by  the  great  majority  of  Churchmen  even  in  En- 
gland."    (McConnell,  "Hist,  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,"  p.  41.) 

The  fact  is  not  denied  by  High-Church  writers,  however  greatly  its  sig- 
nificance may  fail  of  their  appreciation  :  "One  may  recognize  that  as  a  fact 
the  Anglican  divines  of  the  seventeenth  century  admitted  exceptions  to  the 
necessity  of  episcopal  ordination  without  either  thinking  their  teaching  on 
this  head  seriously  dangerous,  or  on  the  other  hand  regarding  it  as  quite 
adequate  to  ancient  standards."  CGore,  "The  Mission  of  the  Church,"  p. 
116.) 

*"Such  were  Whittingham,  Dean  of  Durham,  and  Cartwright,  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Cambridge.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  prelate  of  the  English 
Church  in  Elizabeth's  reign  held  the/jnr  divino  theory  of  Episcopacy."  (D.  S. 
Schaff,  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclofcdia,  Art.  "Episcopacy.")  The  usual 
statement  has  been  that  Bancroft,  soon  to  be  made  a  bishop,  did  in  his 
famous  sermon  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  toward  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign, 
advocate  the  jure  divino  theory  of  the  episcopacy.  But  even  this  fact  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  placed  beyond  doubt.  Henry  Hallam  could  find  no 
such  claim  set  forth  in  the  sermon  :  "The  divine  right  of  episcopacy  is  said 
to  have  been  laid  down  by  Bancroft  in   his  sermon  at  St.   Paul's  Cross  in 


28o  Christianity  as  Organised 

The  further  story,  which  cannot  here  be  followed,  is  still  the 
story  of  an  open  question,  with  its  ever-increasing  literature — 
the  High  Churchmen  upholding  the  episcopacy  as  necessary  to 
the  very  existence  of  the  Church,  the  Low  Churchmen  and  Broad 
Churchmen  regarding  it  as  necessary  to  the  Church's  well-being 
only.  It  is  true  that  the  methods  of  historic  inquiry  have  im- 
proved, and  the  materials  of  this  particular  inquiry  have  in- 
creased in  the  last  three  hundred  years;  so  that  Hatch  and  Gore, 
for  example,  enjoy  some  advantages  over  Cart w right  and  Whit- 
gift.  And  this  has  proved  altogether  favorable  to  the  Low- 
Church  view.' 

But  externalism,  romanticism,  ^estheticism,  the  sense  of  mystic 
symbolism,  the  love  of  power,  the  desire  somehow  to  make  real 
to  oneself  the  good  effects  of  one's  ministrations,  all  these  are 
more  attracted  by  the  other  view ;  and  these  are  no  mean  antag- 
onists of  either  scholarship  or  common  sense.  A  Sir  Walter 
Scott  would  win  many  a  mind  to  whom  an  Archbishop  W'hately 
could  only  appeal  in  vain.  Moonlight  has  a  charm  of  its  own — 
however  inferior  to  walk  or  work  by.  Is  it  the  well-reasoned 
conclusions  of  the  logical  intellect  to  which  men  are  most  pas- 
sionately devoted?  It  is  often  some  creation  of  the  idealizing 
faculty,  or  some  fascinating  visible  fact,  or  some  overmastering 
claim.  And  \evy  easily  may  such  intruders  as  these  learn  to 
sidetrack  a  human  judgment. 


1558.  But  T  do  not  find  anjthing  in  it  to  that  effect."  ("The  Constitutional 
History  of  England,"  Vol.  I.,  ch.  vii.,  p.  387,  n.) 

The  same  author  adds  the  note  that  "Laud  had  been  reproved  by  the 
University  of  Oxford  in  1604  for  maintaining,  in  his  exercise  for  bachelor 
of  divinity,  that  there  could  be  no  true  church  without  bishops,  which  was 
thought  to  cast  a  bone  of  contention  between  the  Church  of  England  and 
the  Reformed  upon  the  Continent." 

Compare  the  statement  of  Green  the  English  historian  :  "For  the  first  time 
fby  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  1662]  since  the  Reformation  all  orders  save  those 
conferred  by  the  hands  of  bishops  were  legally  disallowed."  ("History  of 
the  English  People."  Vol.  HI.,  p.  361.) 

^The  preponderance  of  scholarly  judgment  in  the  Church  of  England  is 
decidedly  contrary  to  the  High-Church  claim — witness  such  names  as  Light- 
foot,  Westcott,  Hatch.  Hort.  "On  the  question  of  organization  I  imagine 
we  agree  more  than  we  differ ;  but  some  of  your  language  is  not  such  as  I 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  281 

Especially  notable  is  the  creative  power  of  antiq\iity,  the  magic 
of  many-centuried  custom,  in  loyal  and  idealizing  minds — 
through  which  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  pagan  people  to 
dream  their  line  of  kings  descended  from  the  gods. 

Tlie  "visible  fact" — such,  for  instance,  as  an  institution,  a  cus- 
tom, a  succession  of  honored  officers — let  it  be  freely  granted, 
may  enshrine  some  great  truth  against  which  the  "reasoned  con- 
clusions of  the  logical  intellect"  will  have  nothing  to  offer.  It 
will  thus  be  serving  a  most  useful  purpose.  By  all  means  let  us 
have  it.  Let  the  truths  of  religion  be  presented  to  the  world  in 
the  concrete — in  institutions,  offices,  object  lessons,  figures  of 
speech,  various  symbols,  and,  above  all,  in  personal  Christian 
lives.  Was  not  this  a  method  of  the  Teacher  who  knew,  as  no 
one  else,  "what  was  in  man"  and  how  to  reach  that  inner  self? 
In  the  same  way  will  his  teaching  Church  uniformly  bear  its 
messages  to  men.  Only  let  it  make  sure  always  that  the  message 
is  indeed  from  him — that  truth,  not  fiction,  finds  embodiment  in 
the  symbolic  form  or  fact.  For  fiction  no  less  than  truth,  idola- 
try no  less   than  Christianity,  teaches  through  symbols. 

2,  The  Scripture  Argument  Pro  and  Con. 

The  argument  for  apostolic  succession  is  ecclesiastic  rather 
than  scriptural.  It  is  on  no  better  than  strained  relations  with 
any  portion  of  Scripture — at  home  with  none.  Nevertheless,  it 
cannot  be  excused  from  appearing  face  to  face  with  the  witness 
of  the  New  Testament.  Indeed,  the  inquiry  might  here  not  im- 
properly both  begin  and  end ;  for  the  tremendous  claim  of  High 
Anglicanism  can  be  acknowledged  on  no  lower  authoritative  tes- 
timony than  that  of  some  well-authenticated  teaching  of  Jesus 
or  his  Apostles.^ 

would  naturally  use.  I  quite  go  with  you  in  condemning  the  refusal  of  fel- 
lowship with  sister  churches  merely  because  they  make  no  use  of  some  ele- 
ments of  organization  assumed  to  be  jure  divino  essential."  (Letter  from 
Dr.  Hort  to  Dr.  Hatch,  quoted  in  Fairbairn,  "Catholicism."  p.  417.) 

^"Thus  Estius,  no  mean  schoolman,  handling  this  very  question  of  the 
difference  of  bishops  and  presbyters,  very  fairly  quits  the  Scriptures,  and 
betakes  himself  to  other  weapons.     'But  that  bishops  by  a  Divine  right  are 


282  Christianity  as  Organised 

Its  Scripture  argument,  briefly  stated,  is  the  following :  ( i ) 
Christ  chose  out  of  the  whole  number  of  disciples  twelve  Apos- 
tles, to  whom,  it  is  assumed,  he  gave  supreme  governmental  pow- 
ers; (2)  in  the  parable  of  the  household  he  asks,  "Who  then  is 
the  faithful  and  wise  steward  whom  his  lord  shall  set  over  his 
household,  to  give  them  their  portion  of  food  in  due  season?"^ 
showing  that  there  are  to  be  officers  as  well  as  ordinary  mem- 
bers in  the  Church;  (3)  he  promised  to  Simon  Peter  "the  keys 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"^  and  this  means  that  Peter  is  to  have 
authority,  which  is  also  conferred  upon  the  other  Apostles,*  to 
give  legislative  decisions  in  the  Church;  (4)  in  the  last  days  of 
his  ministry  and  after  the  Resurrection,  he  still  dealt  with  the 
Apostles  as  representative  disciples,*  and  the  commission  then 
given  them  would  seem  to  have  been  given  to  an  abiding  apos- 
tolate  destined  to  be  permanent  unto  the  end  of  the  world;  (5) 
he  bade  Simon  Peter  tend  (Trot/xaive)  his  flock,  which  includes  both 
teaching  and  governing;"  (6)  he  conferred  the  apostolic  office 
upon  Paul,  which  implies  a  plenary  authority  to  teach  and  to 
govern — as  shown,  for  instance,  in  his  relation  to  the  Corinthian 
Church;  (7)  this  Apostle  had  power  to  deliver  an  offender  to 
Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,"  and  (8)  to  appoint  Tim- 
othy and  Titus  apostolic  delegates;'  (9)  James  was  presiding 
officer,  or  bishop,  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem  f  ( 10)  the  Apostles 
ordained  "the  Seven,"*  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  ordained  pres- 
byters in  Asia  Minor ;'°  (11)  Apostles  laid  their  hands  upon  cer- 
tain baptized  persons  to  impart  to  them  the  gift  of  the  Holy 

superior  to  presbyters  although  not  so  clear  from  the  Scriptures,  neverthe- 
less can,  from  other  writings,  be  sufficiently  proved.'  Ingenuously  said,  how- 
ever; but  all  the  difficulty  is,  how  a  jus  divinum  should  be  proved  when 
men  leave  the  Scriptures.  .  .  .  We  follow  therefore  the  scent  of  the 
game  into  this  wood  of  antiquity,  wherein  it  will  be  easier  to  lose  ourselves 
than  to  find  that  which  we  are  upon  the  pursuit  of,  a  jus  divinum  of  any  par- 
ticular form  of  government."    (Stillingfieet,  "Irenicum,"  Part  II.,  c.  6,  sec.  16.) 

^Luke  xii.  41-43.  'i  Cor.  v.  3-5. 

-Matt.  xvi.  18, 19.  ''i  Tim.  i.  3 ;  Titus  i.  5. 

*John  XX.  22,  23.  ^Acts  xv. 

*Matt.  xxvi.  26-30 ;  xxviii.  16-20.  *Acts  vi. 

^John  xxi.  16.  '"Acts  xiv.  23. 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  283 

Spirit,  which  is  the  grace  by  which  the  Christian  life  is  hved;' 

(12)  the  Apostles  and  presbyters  in  council  decided  the  question 
sent  from  Antioch  concerning-  the  reception  of  Gentile  converts;" 

(13)  Paul  had  power  to  impart  a  definite  ministerial  gift  through 
the  imposition  of  hands — as  he  did  to  Timothy." 

What  is  here  pleaded  for,  it  would  be  well  to  remember,  is 
the  sacerdotal  idea  raised  to  its  highest  power.  The  proposition 
is  that  the  Apostles  were  priests,  empowered  by  Christ  to  impart 
to  men  in  the  sacraments  "the  grace  by  which  Christians  live;" 
and  that,  being  thus  constituted  priest-lords,  t}-iey  were  also  in- 
vested by  Christ  with  supreme  authority  to  govern  the  Church, 
and  were  commanded  to  transmit  this  authority  through  ordi- 
nation to  the  bishops,  who  were  to  be  their  successors  throughout 
all  subsequent  generations ;  and  that  the  bishops,  likewise,  and  all 
those  whom  they  should  ordain  to  the  priesthood,  should  have 
the  power  to  impart  saving  grace  to  men  in  the  sacraments ;  that, 
accordingly,  when  presbyters  undertake  to  ordain  to  the  ministry 
of  Christ  they  are  guilty  of  sacrilege,  and  those  whom  they  or- 
dain are  not  ministers  of  Christ  but  only  ministerial  pretenders 
acting  in  violation  of  his  will  and  word. 

Do  the  proofs  support  this  amazing  proposition?  Under  the 
slightest  scrutiny  their  insufficiency  is  manifest:  (i)  The  Apos- 
tles were  sent  forth  as  Christ's  chief  witnessing  preachers,  to  dis- 
ciple all  nations,  and  not  as  the  supreme  rulers  of  the  Church 
and  the  ordainers  of  others  to  such  supreme  rulership;  (2)  un- 
questionably there  are  to  be  officers  as  well  as  ordinary  members 
in  the  Church;  (3)  the  "keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  were 
given  to  the  Apostles,  but  without  any  hint  of  their  official  trans- 
mission to  others,  and,  moreover,  they  are  also  given  to  the  Chris- 
tian congregation;*  (4)  the  Apostles'  commission  and  the  prom- 
ised presence  of  Christ  unto  the  end  of  the  world  offer  no  evi- 

'Acts  viii.  14-18;  xix.  1-7.  ^Acts  xv. 

"2  Tim.  i.  6,  7- 

I  have  here  followed,  with  only  a  slight  change  of  order,  the  Scripture  ar- 
gument for  the  sacerdotal  succession  in  Gore's  "The  Church  and  the  Minis- 
try"— the  most  complete  that  I  know. 

*Matt.  xviii.  16-20. 


284  Christianity  as  Organised 

dence  for  the  perpetuation,  tactually  or  otherwise,  of  either  their 
particular  office  or  their  jurisdiction;  (5)  to  shepherd  the  flock 
of  Christ,  teaching  and  g-overning,  is  every  pastor's  duty;  (6) 
Paul  exerted  no  authority  in  the  Corinthian  Church,  or  in  any 
other,  except  such  as  would  be  reasonably  and  freely  accorded 
him  in  his  evangelic  office,  as  an  Apostle  of  Jesus,  "not  a  whit 
behind  the  very  chiefest  Apostles,"  and  a  founder,  chief  pastor, 
and  inspired  teacher  of  Christian  churches — or  such  as  would  be 
accorded  any  great-minded  missionary  evangelist  and  pastor  in 
our  own  age;  (7)  there  is  not  even  a  suggestion  that  the  Apos- 
tle's power  of  authoritative  judgment,  delivering  the  scandalous 
Corinthian  church-member  to  physical  suffering  for  the  sake  of 
restoration  to  spiritual  health,  was  a  transmissible  power,  nor  is 
it  as  a  matter  of  fact  an  episcopal  power  in  the  present  day;  (8) 
the  appointment  of  apostolic  delegates  for  a  temporary  purpose 
makes  no  approach  to  the  transmission  of  sacerdotal  and  legisla- 
tive functions  to  an  age-long  line  of  successors;  (9)  the  presiden- 
cy of  James  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  was  such  as  any  Chris- 
tian congregation  might  believe  in  and  enjoy;  ( 10)  that  Apostles 
ordained  presbyters  and  deacons  to  their  office  proves  nothing  for 
an  apostolic  sacerdotal  succession;  (11)  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  given  through  the  laying  on  of  Apostles'  hands  were  mirac- 
ulous gifts,  attested  by  outward  signs,  such  as  the  speaking  with 
tongues,  and  not  the  grace  of  God  by  which  the  Christian  life  is 
lived;  (12)  Timothy's  ministerial  gift  was  given  him  "through 
prophecy"  as  well  as  "through  the  laying  on  of"  the  Apostles' 
hands :  the  preposition  is  the  same  (Sia)  in  both  cases. 

But  it  may  be  well  to  examine  this  argument  from  Timothy's 
ordination  a  little  more  closely.  As  to  what  was  the  particular 
ministry  to  which'  he  was  set  apart,  we  are  not  informed.  It  may 
have  been  that  of  a  presbyter  in  Lystra ;'  or,  as  seems  more  prob- 
able, that  of  a  traveling  evangelist.  Just  as  certain  prophets  and 
teachers  of  the  church  in  Antioch  had  recently  laid  their  hands 
upon  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  sent  them  forth  as  missionaries,  so 
may  Paul  and  the  presbyters  have  sent  Timothy  forth. 

'Acts  xiv.  23 ;  xvi.   1-5. 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  285 

It  is  not  the  particular  ministry,  however,  but  the  ministerial 
gift  with  which  we  are  here  concerned.  We  notice,  then,  that 
the  relation  of  prophecy  to  this  ministerial  gift  could  only  have 
been  that  of  recognition  or  testimony — the  prophet  declaring  the 
gift  (x"P'^/^  )  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  was  in  this  well-in- 
structed young  Christian.  The  same,  it  may  be  believed,  was  the 
relation  of  the  imposition  of  the  Apostle's  (and  the  presbytery's) 
hands  to  this  gift — namely,  not  that  of  a  cause  or  a  medium,  but 
that  of  a  recognition  and  testimony.  The  Apostle  and  presbyters 
thereby  declared  that  qualification  for  the  ministry  which  had  al- 
ready been  given  to  Timothy  as  an  immediate  gift  from  God — 
just  as  the  imposition  of  the  Apostles'  hands  upon  **the  Seven," 
who  were  already  "full  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  wisdom,"  was 
not  causative  but  declarative  of  their  fitness  for  the  ministry  of 
tables  for  which  they  had  been  selected.^ 

Or,  if  it  be  supposed  that  by  Timothy's  ministerial  gift  is 
meant  a  special  illumination  of  the  Spirit  which  had  been  re- 
ceived at  the  time  of  the  laying  on  of  hands,  still  here  is  no 
sacerdotal  or  ot^cial  impartation  of  God's  Spirit.  Let  us  pray 
that  the  same  anointing  from  the  Holy  One  for  spiritual  vision 
and  the  opening  of  blinded  eyes,  may  be  received  at  our  own  or 
any  other  ordination  to  Christ's  holy  ministry.  For  "who  is  suf- 
ficient for  these  things?"  That  flame  of  Christly  love  caught 
from  the  altar  of  God,  that  inner  baptism  from  the  ascended 
Christ  for  sacrifice  and  service,  may  be  realized  in  the  selfsame 
hour  of  one's  setting  apart  to  the  ministry  of  redeeming  grace. 
And  it  may  abide  even  unto  the  end. 

At  the  very  time  of  receiving  baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper, 
to  instance  some  similar  experiences,  one  may  receive  through 
the  spirit  of  faith  (not  ex  opere  opcrato)  an  inward  conscious 
revelation  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ."     And  why  may  there 

^Acts  vi.  6. 

""On  the  day  following,  the  Conference  [the  first  Methodist  Conference, 
1744]  was  opened,  with  solemn  prayer,  a  sermon  by  Charles  Wesley,  and  the 
baptism  of  an  adult,  who  then  and  there  found  peace  with  God."  (Tyerman, 
"Life  of  Wesley,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  443-) 

"Then  I  began  to  pray  again  and  read  the  Scriptures ;  and  one  Sunday 


286  Christianity  as  Organised 

not  he  tlie  same  experience  at  the  time  of  ordination  to  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  ?  It  may  be  and  has  been,  again  and  again.  "When 
the  bishop  laid  his  hands  upon  my  head,  if  my  vile  heart  doth 
not  deceive  me,  I  offered  up  my  whole  spirit,  soul,  and  body  to 
the  service  of  God's  sanctuary.  ...  I  can  call  heaven  and 
earth  to  witness.  ...  I  gave  myself  up  to  be  a  martyr  for 
Him  who  hung  upon  the  cross  for  me ;"  such  was  the  testimony 
of  George  Whitefield.'  And  was  not  this  realization  of  entire 
self -committal  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel a  ministerial  gift?  Was  it  not  a  spirit  of  power  and  love 
which  he  might  well  "stir  up"  from  time  to  time,  and  of  which 
his  whole  after-life  proved  the  reality? 

Or,  once  again,  supposing  for  the  argument's  sake  that  there 
came  upon  Timothy,  through  the  laying  on  of  hands,  some  cha- 
rism  of  the  Holy  Spirit — as  in  the  case  of  the  Samaritan'^  and 
the  Ephesian  converts' — will  it  be  maintained  that  therefore  a 
like  gift  of  the  Spirit  is  imparted  to  candidates  for  the  ministry 
by  bishops  of  to-day?  We  know  that  it  is  not.  The  signs  are 
nowhere  in  evidence. 

3.  Testimony  of  the  Sub-Apostolic  Age — Ignatius. 

The  testimony  of  the  sub-apostolic  age  on  this  subject  con- 
firms that  of  the  New  Testament.  The  bishops,  appearing  no- 
where as  officially  superior  to  the  presbyters  till  the  time  of  Ig- 
natius, were  not  spoken  of  by  him  as  successors  of  the  Apostles. 
They  were  represented  as  standing  in  the  place  of  Christ  or  of 
God  the  Father,  and  the  presbyters  in  the  place  of  the  Apostles* 

I  called  at  Whitehall  Chapel,  where  the  sacrament  was  going  to  be  deliv- 
ered. I  went  to  the  table  with  trembling  limbs  and  a  heavy  heart ;  but  no 
sooner  had  I  received  than  I  found  power  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  had 
shed  his  blood  for  me,  and  that  God  for  his  sake  had  forgiven  my  offenses. 
Then  was  my  heart  filled  with  love  to  God  and  man ;  and  since  then  sin 
hath  not  had  dominion  over  me."  (The  personal  testimony  of  a  converted 
soldier,  in  John  Nelson's  Journal,  p.  17.) 

^Southey,  "Life  of  Wesley,"  Vol.  I.,  145. 

^^cts  viii.  14-19.  ^Acts  xix.  1-6. 

*"While  your  bishop  presides  in  the  place  of  God,  and  your  presbyters  in 
the  place  of  the  assembly  of  the  Apostles."     (To  the  Magnesians.  6.)     "Ye 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  287 

— not,  however,  through  a  tactual  succession.  But  the  fact  that 
bishoiDS  were  not  represented  as  in  a  tactual  succession  is  well- 
nigh  conclusi\e  proof  that  they  were  not  so  regarded.  For  if  Ig- 
natius, in  his  unceasing  insistence  upon  the  authority  of  the  bish- 
op, could  have  declared  to  the  Ephesians  or  the  Magnesians  or 
the  Trallians  or  any  others,  that  this  church  officer  received  his 
office  by  direct  transmission  from  Christ  through  the  Apostles 
and  their  successors,  it  is,  to  say  the  least,  in  the  extremest  de- 
gree unlikely  that  he  should  have  failed  to  avail  himself  of  such 
a  plea.  What  counter  consideration  could  have  laid  upon  his 
pen  the  spell  of  so  strange  a  reticence?^ 

Neither  is  there  a  word  in  this  age  concerning  the  tactual 
transmission  of  grace. 

We  have  found  Irenseus,  toward  the  close  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, expressing  his  belief  in  a  doctrinal  succession.  He  refers 
to  the  church  at  Rome  as  the  most  notable  example  of  it.  The 
Gnostics,  against  whom  he  is  arguing,  professed  to  be  teaching 
doctrines  of  the  Apostles  which  they  had  received  through  tra- 
ditions and  apostolic  writings  in  their  possession.  Irertseus  de- 
nies their  claim,  and  challenges  them  to  put  forward  the  proof. 
Then  he  goes  on  to  show  wdiere,  in  his  judgment,  the  true  tradi- 
tion of  apostolic  doctrine  may  be  foimd — namely,  in  churches 
founded  by  Apostles,  and  preserving  through  a  succession  of 

are  subject  to  the  bishops  as  to  Jesus  Christ;  .  .  .  should  also  be  subject 
to  the  presbyters  as  to  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  Christ."  (To  the  Trallians,  2.) 
"Let  all  reverence  the  bishop  as  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  .  and  the  presbyters  as 
the  sanhedrin  of  God,  and  assembly  of  the  Apostles."     (Ibid.,  3.) 

And  of  himself  this  bishop  of  Antioch  says :  "I  do  not  command  you  as 
if  I  were  Peter  or  Paul:  they  were  Apostles."  (To  the  Romans,  4.)  Or 
again :  "Shall  I  .  .  .  reach  such  a  height  of  self-esteem  that  ...  I 
should  issue  commands  to  you  as  if  I  were  an  Apostle?"  (To  the  Tral- 
lians, 3.) 

^Bishop  Thomas  F.  Gailor  has  said  that  "Ignatius  is  so  intent  on  the 
authority  of  the  bishops  that  he  does  not  stop  their  succession  with  the 
Apostles,  but  traces  it  back  to  Christ  himself."  (In  "Church  Reunion,"  p. 
249,  n.)  I  do  not  find  a  word  of  Ignatius  that  even  suggests  a  tracing  of  a 
succession  of  bishops  back  either  to  the  Apostles  or  to  Christ.  The  idea  of 
an  episcopal  succession  is  simply  foreign  to  his  Letters. 


288  Christianity  as  Organized 

bishops  (whom  he  also  calls  presbyters)  that  original  depositum 
of  truth.  Here  in  the  church  at  Rome,  and  in  other  apostolic 
churches,  was  a  line  of  chief  pastors  which  Irenaeus  believed  to 
reach  back  to  the  apostolic  age.  This  he  regarded  as  the  Chris- 
tian guarantee  of  pure  doctrine.'  But  of  a  tactual  or  sacerdotal 
line  of  chief  officers  and  teachers  Irenaeus  knew  nothing. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  a  parenthetic  remark,  that  the  Roman  or 
the  Orthodox  Eastern  or  the  English  Church  cannot  consistently 
entertain  the  Iren?ean  idea  of  the  true  succession  of  doctrine; 
because  each  of  these  three  churches  acknowledges  a  regular  suc- 
cession of  bishops  in  either  one  or  both  of  the  others,  and  at  the 
same  time  charges  them  both  with  heresy. 

Passing  on,  then,  from  Ignatius  and  Irenaeus,  we  continue  to 
ask,  At  what  time  and  under  what  circumstances  was  the  High- 
Church  bishop's  claim  as  to  his  origin  first  put  forth?  Not  from 
the  beginning.  All  the  available  evidence  tends  to  show  that  it 
was  not  for  perhaps  three  generations  after  the  episcopal  office 
began,  here  and  there,  to  be  instituted.  The  claim  was  not  used 
to  help  create  the  office,  but  to  help  justify  and  perpetuate  its 
existence  as  an  already  familiar  and  universal  institution. 

A  similar  historic  example  may  be  shown  in  the  gigantic  fiction 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings.  Did  a  certain  man  stand  up  among 
his  unorganized  fellows,  in  some  "wondrous  mother-age"  of  the 
rude  and  shadowy  olden  time,  and  undertake  to  prove  to  them 
that  he  was  chosen  by  the  gods  whom  they  feared  to  be  their 
king?  We  cannot  think  so.  On  the  contrary,  some  strong  man 
stood  up,  under  favoring  circumstances,  and  was  accepted  by  the 
clan  or  tribe  as  their  chief — among  our  barbarous  Teutonic  an- 
cestors, for  example.  Then  by  his  endowments  of  body  and 
mind,  with  his  policy  and  his  sword,  in  cooperation  with  the 
people,  he  strengthened  his  position — made  himself  indeed  a  king. 
And  then,  long  after  the  throne  had  been  established,  the  reign- 
ing king,  perhaps  not  a  strong  man  at  all — say,  a  James  the 

^"This  was  the  primary  significance  of  the  episcopal  successions,  which 
were  first  vaUied  as  the  guarantee  of  doctrinal  truth."  (Dean  x\rniitage  Rob- 
inson, "The  Vision  of  Unity,"  p.  23.) 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  289 

First  or  some  earlier  English  king — claimed  a  direct  divine  or- 
igin for  the  authority  with  which  he  found  himself  invested.  He 
and  his  predecessors  alike,  so  it  was  announced  from  the  seat  of 
power,  were  born  to  rule;  and  any  resistance  of  their  monarchical 
will,  for  any  cause  whatever,  must  be  punished  as  a  crime. 

What  bishop,  then,  first  made  the  claim  of  divine  right  for  his 
office?  Perhaps  Hippolytus,  bishop  and  martyr,  as  he  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been,  a  resident  of  Rome  or  its  vicinity,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  third  century.  "But  none,"  says  Hippolytus, 
"will  refuse  these  [certain  heathen  errors]  save  the  Holy  Spirit 
bequeathed  unto  the  Church,  which  the  Apostles,  having  in  the 
first  instance  received,  have  transmitted  to  those  who  have  right- 
ly believed.  But  we  as  being  their  successors,  and  as  participators 
in  this  grace,  high-priesthood,  and  office  of  teaching,  as  well  as 
being  reputed  guardians  of  the  Church,  must  not  be  found  de- 
ficient in  diligence,  or  disposed  to  suppress  sound  doctrine.'" 

Not  a  perfectly  clear  statement,  this  passage  may  nevertheless 
be  taken  as  containing  substantially  the  basal  idea  for  which  the 
modern  High  Churchman  makes  his  plea. 

But  the  most  prominent  and  influential  ecclesiastic  of  the  third 
century  who  stood  for  the  successional  sacerdotal  idea  was  an- 
other bishop  and  martyr,  whose  accjuaintance  we  have  already 
made,  Cyprian  of  Carthage." 

4.  How  Shall  the  Silence  of  History  Be  Accounted  for? 

Here,  then,  is  a  question.  If  the  single  bishop  is  not  heard  of 
till  the  time  of  Ignatius,  how  will  the  High  Churchman  account 
for  the  existence  of  the  sacerdotal  line  up  to  that  time?  He  of- 
fers to  account  for  it  on  any  one  of  three  suppositions. 

The  first  is  that,  during  this  early  period  every  member  of  the 
board  of  presbyters,  or  bishops  (presbyter-bishops),  was  in  this 
sacerdotal  episcopal  succession — that  is  to  say,  was  empowered, 
through  his  ordination,  to  ordain  others.  But  when  one  of  the 
number  rose  to  supremacy  o^'er  the  rest,  thus  becoming  the  sole 

'"Refutation  of  All  Heresies,"  Proemium.  "See  pp.  345,  346. 

19 


290  Christianity  as  Organised 

and  single  bishop  of  the  congregation,  he  alone  continued  to 
exercise  the  ordaining  function;  and  accordingly  the  line  of  epis- 
copal ordinations  descended  thenceforth  from  him.  The  func- 
tion of  ordination  at  the  beginning  was,  so  to  speak,  "put  in  com- 
mission," and  there  remained  till  the  emergence  of  the  single 
bishop/ 

The  second  supposition  is  that  some  one  member  of  the  board 
of  presbyters  had  authority  to  ordain,  and  yet  was  called  by 
the  same  name  as  his  colleagues.  It  has  been  said  of  this  ex- 
planation that  it  "cannot  be  disproved"" — which  is  probably  true. 

The  third,  and  perhaps  more  generally  preferred  supposition, 
is  that  the  bishops  ordained  by  the  Apostles  were,  like  the  Apos- 
tles themselves,  itinerants,  and  that  either  they  or  their  successors 
settled  down,  one  after  another,  as  single  pastors,  or  bishops,  and 
ordained  their  successors  as  such.  Of  these  itinerant  bishops,  Tim- 
othy and  Titus  in  the  New  Testament  and  a  class  of  itinerant 
preachers  called  in  the  Didache  "apostles"  (in  the  wider  sense  of 
the  title),  "prophets,"  "teachers,"  are  cited  as  examples.' 

Now  there  is  none  of  these  suppositions,  of  course,  that  claims 
the  support  of  proof.  In  fact,  none  of  them  bears  any  mark  of 
likelihood.  They  have  simply  been  invented  to  show  how  a  line 
of  episcopal  ordinations  of  which  there  is  no  contemporaneous 
evidence  might  conceivably  have  been  started  and  kept  up. 

^"But  there  are  certain  facts  that  have  led  some  good  authorities  to  sup- 
pose that,  at  one  time,  all  the  presbyters  in  some  churches  held  together  the 
chief  authority  in  government  and  the  power  to  ordain,  the  'episcopate'  be- 
ing, as  it  were,  'in  commission'  among  them.  ...  It  [this  theory]  does 
not  affect  the  principle  of  apostolic  succession  in  the  least.  ...  It  no 
more  disturbs  the  principle  of  apostolic  succession  than  if  your  lordship  or- 
dained all  the  presbyters  in  this  diocese  to-day  to  episcopal  functions." 
(Gore,  "The  Mission  of  the  Church,"  pp.  22,  23.) 

-"While,  however,  this  view  cannot  be  disproved,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
it  is  unsupported  by  the  evidence  of  the  documents  we  have  been  consid- 
ering."    (Gore,  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  p.  304.) 

'The  Didache,  xl.  3;  xiii.  2.  Gore,  "The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  pp. 
304,  305.  This  author  depreciates  the  testimony  of  the  Didache,  as  a  whole, 
but  magnifies  it  here.  It  proves  nothing,  however,  except  that  there  were 
itinerant  preachers  in  that  day. 


Unity:  Apostolic  Succession  291 

5.  The  Succession al  Sacerdotal  Episcopate  a  Roman  Idea. 

There  is  still  another  question  of  origins  that  here  invites  at- 
tention :  Whence  came  the  idea  of  the  successional  prelatic  episco- 
pacy ?  We  fail  to  find  it  arising-  out  of  historic  facts ;  it  shows 
no  kinship  to  Greek  ideals ;  it  is  foreign  to  Scripture  teaching. 
But  it  does  bear  the  water-marks  of  the  governmental  genius  of 
Rome,  with  the  Roman  faculty  of  centralization  and  iron  im- 
perialism. As  the  emperors  laid  hold  upon  and  concentered  in 
themselves  the  powers  which  under  the  Republic  had  been  exer- 
cised by  senate,  consul,  tribune,  chief  priest,  every  governmental 
officer,  and  asserted,  "All  these  are  rightly  ours,  for  the  unity 
and  permanence  of  the  empire,  and  have  been  ours,  through  in- 
heritance, from  the  beginning  of  the  imperial  line,"  so  the  bishops 
laid  hold  upon  the  powers  which  had  been  formerly  exercised  by 
people  and  presbyters — the  power  to  teach,  to  administer  sacra- 
ments, to'  absolve,  to  rule — and  declared,  "All  these  are  ours, 
for  the  unity  and  permanence  of  the  Church,  through  the  line  of 
episcopal  ordinations,  even  from  the  Divine  Christ  himself." 

In  neither  case  was  truth  conspicuous.  In  point  of  fact,  Rome 
as  military  conqueror  and  civil  ruler  did  not  ask  so  much,  What 
is  true?  as,  What  is  effective?  She  enacted  such  laws,  estab- 
lished such  institutions,  followed  such  methods,  claimed  such  au- 
thority as  seemed  best  suited  to  her  stupendous  purpose.  To 
justify  these  actions  at  the  bar  of  exact  justice  and  truth,  if  seri- 
ously attempted  at  all,  was  an  after-consideration.  So  likewise 
with  the  ecclesiasticism  of  the  third  and  the  following  centuries, 
as  affected  by  the  Roman  spirit.  It  instituted  such  ritual  ob- 
servances, adopted  such  forms  of  government,  put  forth  such 
claims  as  seemed  well  suited  to  strengthen  its  authority  or  ex- 
tend its  influence,  and  sought  justification  for  them  in  some  word 
of  Scripture.  Power  was  held  dearer  than  truth.  Might  was 
more  faithfully  practiced  than  right. 

But  the  Roman  emperor  w^as  one,  while  the  monarchical  bish- 
ops were  many.  They  were  a  widespread  brotherhood  of  little 
monarchs.  none  superior  to  any  other.  This  meant  that  the  de- 
velopment w^as  as  yet  incomplete.    The  logical  outcome  must  be 


292  Christianity  as  Organised 

a  single  bishop,  lord  of  all  the  others,  ruling  alone,  if  he  can, 
over  the  whole  ecclesiastic  empire.  Thus,  accordingly,  with 
steady  and  inevitable  steps,  it  came  to  pass.  And  whom  should 
all  signs  betoken  as  this  one  imperial  and  absolute  ruler — whom 
but  the  bishop  of  the  City  of  the  Caesars  ? 

So  the  Church  took  on  the  Roman  iniperial  character.  Did 
it  convert  the  Empire?  It  did  so,  but  at  the  same  time  was  itself, 
to  a  large  extent,  converted  by  the  Empire.  The  Medieval 
Church,  with  its  pope,  its  bishops  under  authority  and  having 
men  under  them,  its  army  of  priests  and  monks,  and  its  policy  of 
maintaining  unity  by  unrelenting  compulsion,  was  the  new  and 
ecclesiastic  form  of  the  Rome  of  the  Emperors.  "That  which 
Marius  and  Csesar" — so  the  flatterers  of  Hildebrand  are  reported 
to  have  said  to  him — "could  not  effect  with  torrents  of  blood  you 
are  effecting  with  a  word." 


XII. 

APOSTOLIC  SUCCESSION:  THE  UNREAL  AND 
THE  REAL. 

The  sacerdotal  theory  of  apostolic  succession  needs  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  most  indubitable  evidence.  For  its  demands  upon 
the  reason  and  the  spirit  are  indeed  hard  to  bear.  Those  who 
hold  it  must  believe  that  an  absolutely  unbroken  physical  channel 
of  grace  extends  through  all  the  intervening  ages  from  the  Apos- 
tles of  our  Lord  to  the  bishops  of  to-day.  A  physical  channel  of 
grace — that  is  the  doctrine.  And  if  the  stream  be  interrupted 
anywhere  by  the  failure  of  the  right  person's  hands  to  rest  upon 
the  right  person's  head,  the  Church  in  that  line  will  cease  to 
exist. 

Observe,  then,  that  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  Church  with  its 
channel  of  sacramental  grace,  in  any  particular  line,  the  bishop 
who  ordains  another  to  the  episcopate  must  himself  have  been 
ordained  in  due  and  proper  form.  But  not  only  so;  he  must 
also  have  been  baptized,  either  as  an  infant  or  as  an  adult,  in 
due  and  proper  form.^  Because  an  unbaptized  man's  imposition 
of  hands  in  ordination  would,  according  to  the  theory,  be  null 
and  void. 

We  must  assume,  therefore,  that  both  these  requirements,  bap- 
tism and  ordination,  were  complied  with  in  the  case  of  every 
bishop  who  stands  anywhere  in  any  line  of  episcopal  ordinations 
that  has  reached  unto  our  own  day.  Through  all  the  genera- 
tions of  nearly  twenty  centuries  there  has  not  occurred  a  single 

^Not  that  the  bishop  in  question  must  needs  have  been  baptized  by  a  priest. 
Baptism  by  laymen  is  regarded  as  valid — a  regenerative  rite,  just  as  if  a 
priest  had  performed  it — both  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  the  Rit- 
ualists. "They  [the  "sects"],"  says  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  Grafton 
in  a  recent  utterance,  "have  lost  sacramental  grace,  save  that  of  baptism." 
But  why  not  that  also? 

(293) 


294  Christianity  as  Organised 

failure  in  either  of  the  two.  And  such  generations  as  many  of 
them  were!  Among  ignorant  and  barbarous  populations,  in 
semi-paganized  Christianity,  in  times  when  the  bishop's  office 
was  shamelessly  bought  and  sold  like  any  article  of  merchandise 
in  the  market,  during  the  Dark  Ages,  during  the  tenth  century, 
during  the  century  and  a  half  when  Rome  was  the  veriest  sink 
of  corruption,  it  never  came  to  pass  that  one  of  these  unnum- 
bered bishops  got  into  office  who,  through  negligence,  oversight, 
or  other  cause,  had  not  been  both  regularly  baptized  and  regu- 
larly ordained.  All  this  must  be  believed.  Otherwise  it  has  to 
be  admitted  that  the  sacerdotal  succession  may  have  been  bro- 
ken; and  hence  that  no  bishop  on  earth  can  tell  whether  he  be 
a  true  bishop  or  a  sacrilegious  invader  of  the  Lord's  house ;  no 
Christian  minister,  whether  he  be  a  true  minister  or  an  offerer 
of  strange  fire  on  God's  altar;  no  church,  whether  it  be  a  true 
church  or  a  mere  religious  organization  without  the  covenanted 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  the  case  of  such  a  succession  calls  in  vain  for  evidence. 
The  oft-quoted  saying  of  Archbishop  Whately,  that  "there  is 
not  a  minister  in  all  Christendom  who  is  able  to  trace  up,  with 
any  approach  to  certainty,  his  spiritual  pedigree,'"  is  too  obvious- 
ly true  for  discussion.  Indeed,  proof  is  here  clearly  out  of  the 
question.  An  a  priori  assumption  is  made  to  take  its  place.  Dog- 
ma must  serve  for  history. 

I.  Transmission  through  Impure  Hands. 

Even  if  a  sacerdotal  line  of  episcopal  ordinations — to  take  up 
an  impossible  conception — were  show^n  beyond  all  controversy, 
what  can  be  known  of  the  Christian  spirit  and  character  of  the 

^With  similar  plainness  of  speech  and  no  less  correctness  of  inference, 
Whately  goes  on  to  say :  "The  ultimate  consequence  must  be,  that  any  one 
who  sincerely  believes  that  his  claim  to  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  covenant 
depends  on  his  own  minister's  claim  to  the  supposed  sacramental  virtue  of 
true  ordination,  and  this  again,  on  perfect  apostolic  succession  as  above 
described,  must  be  involved,  in  proportion  as  he  reads  and  inquires  and  re- 
flects and  reasons  on  the  subject,  in  the  most  distressing  doubt  and  per- 
plexity."    ("The  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  Essay  II.,  sec.  30.) 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  295 

vast  majority  of  the  bishops  through  whose  action  the  sacra- 
mental grace  is  supposed  to  be  passed  down  from  soul  to  soul? 
Were  they  in  communion  with  the  mind  of  Christ?  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  it  is  known  that  many  of  these  ordaining  hands  were 
idle,  proud,  and  worldly  hands/  It  was  not  a  Protestant  con- 
trovcrtist  but  tlie  pope  Hildebrand  who  declared,  two  years  after 
his  elevation  to  the  papal  throne:  "If  I  look  with  the  glance  of 
the  mind  toward  the  parts  of  the  West,  or  of  the  South,  or  of  the 
North,  I  find  scarcely  anywhere  bishops  who  are  such  by  lawful 
election  and  mode  of  life,  who  rule  the  Christian  people  through 
the  love  of  Christ  and  not  through  worldly  ambition."  Un- 
doubtedly in  certain  ages  of  the  Church  many  of  them  were  deep- 
dyed  in  villainy  and  uncleanness. 

In  many  cases  the  succession  of  Simon  the  Sorcerer  was  dis- 
tinctly recognizable.  Money  was  offered  to  buy  the  office  through 
which  the  grace  of  the  Divine  Spirit  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
veyed :  "Give  me  also  this  power,  that  on  whomsoever  I  lay  my 
hands,  he  may  receive  the  Holy  Spirit."^  And  the  answer  was 
not  that  of  Simon  Peter  to  Simon  Magus.  It  was  not,  "Thy 
silver  perish  with  thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  to  obtain  the 
gift  of  God  with  money.'"  On  the  contrary,  the  silver  and  gold 
were  eagerly  accepted,  the  office  conferred,  and  the  applicant 
empowered,  according  to  sacramentarian  teaching,  to  bestow 
upon  whomsoever  he  chose  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

Through  the  hands,  then,  O'f  such  men,  sitting  high  in  the 
synagogue  of  Satan,  has  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which 
alone  can  make  a  man  a  true  minister  oi  Jesus  Christ,  and  per- 
petuate Christ's  Church  on  earth,  been  communicated.  And  this 
is  the  way  of  truth,  this  the  gospel.  Such  a  proposition,  by 
whatever    calm    and    beautiful    words    commended,    suggests    a 

*"A  bishop  was  a  dignitary,  a  peer,  a  being  of  exalted  state,  as  much  for 
show  as  for  use,  but  indispensable  to  the  right  constitution  of  things — in 
England.  The  modern  idea  of  the  Apostolic  Bishop  was  not  thinkable. 
Such  a  creature  had  not  been  seen  for  so  many  centuries  that  his  memory 
had  faded  out."  (McConnell,  "Hist,  of  American  Episcopal  Church,"  pp. 
181,  182.) 

*Acts  viii.  19.  'Acts  viii.  20. 


296  Christianity  as  Organised 

nearer  kinship  to  magic  and  profanity  than  to  the  religion  of 
Jesus/ 

It  may  be  said  in  reply  that,  as  everybody  knows,  there  have 
been  corrupt  and  wicked  chief  officers  in  the  Church  in  all  ages, 
and  yet  no  one  will  assert  that  their  depravity  has  broken  up  the 
Church  itself.  But  there  is  an  essential  difference  between  the 
two  cases.  In  the  one  case,  these  wicked  and  corrupt  chief  offi- 
cers are  believed  to  be,  just  like  the  good  and  true,  channels  of 
grace,  absolutely  necessary  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  Church : 
in  the  other  case,  they  are  believed  to  be  not  only  unnecessary  but 
— save  as  Providence  may  make  their  "wrath  to  praise  him" — 
obstructive  and  injurious. 

True  it  is  that  God's  workers  in  the  world  are  all  imperfect 
characters.  Who  else  are  anywhere  to  be  found  ?  There  are  no 
perfect  sons  of  God,  faultless  builders  of  the  holy  city  that  is 
to  be — there  are  none  now  beneath  the  skies.  Yet,  in  this  age- 
long spiritual  upbuilding,  God  is  making  use  of  the  Jacobs  and 
Davids  and  Simon  Peters  and  the  men  and  women  of  to-day  who 
love  his  cause.  But  as  personalities,  not  as  automata;  for  the 
human  power  that  is  in  them,  not  as  moving  hands  and  lips  which 
in  and  of  themselves  are  necessary  to  perpetuate  his  Church  and 
kingdom. 

Supposing,  however,  that  an  unbroken  succession  of  enlight- 
ened and  holy  men  should  have  occupied  the  bishop's  chair 
through  all  these  ages,  the  assertion  that  these  men  have  actually 
imparted  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  men  kneeling  before 
them  for  ordination  to  the  ministry,  and  have  thus  empowered 

^"If  the  grace  of  God  comes  this  wa}-,  and  is  therefore  itself  much  more 
materialistic  than  the  best  influences  of  human  life,  the  Bible  must  be  read 
backwards,  and  the  most  familiar  and  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity 
will  be  turned  upside  down.  Moreover,  to  suppose  that  God's  grace — so 
spiritually  pure — not  only  chooses  for  its  channel  a  crassly  material  passage 
along  the  course  of  the  ages,  but  has  often  had  to  filter  its  way  through  the 
very  sinks  of  uttermost  depravity,  according  to  the  indisputably  attested 
villainies  of  priests,  bishops,  cardinals,  and  popes,  in  the  dark  ages  and  the 
dark  places  of  the  Church's  history:  is  not  this  more  than  an  impossibility, 
and  worse  than  an  absurdity?  For  does  it  not  come  very  near  to  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  One?"     (Lock^-er,  "Evangelical  Succession,"  pp.  127,  128). 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  297 

these  men  in  tlieir  turn  to  impart,  through  rehgious  rites,  to  other 
souls,  "the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  wliich  is  the  essence  of  the 
Christian  life,"  would  be  extremely  difficult  of  belief. 

2.  A  Violation  of  All  Analogies. 

For  one  thing  this  theory  violates  the  analogy  of  all  God's 
other  ways  of  helping  and  saving  men  through  their  fellow-men. 
For  how  is  it  in  all  other  instances  that  men  help  or  save  one 
another?  It  is  by  means  of  the  contact  of  soul  with  soul  in  ac- 
cordance with  spiritual  laws.  We  submit  to  the  authority  of  su- 
periors, receive  knowledge  from  teachers,  respond  to  the  love  of 
friends,  feel  and  follow  the  example  of  fellow-men.  The  eye 
falls  upon  a  printed  page,  and  some  mind  of  a  far-off  time  touch- 
es our  mind  as  really  as  does  the  friend  at  our  side.  Standing 
together  in  the  congregation,  Christian  worshipers  sing  unto 
God  and  unto  one  another  in  hymns  and  spiritual  songs ;  but  just 
as  trvdy  a  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  a  Charles  Wesley,  a  Ray  Palmer 
is  singing  God's  praise  through  them,  and  they  through  him. 
Out  of  the  past,  that  "dying  Past  which  never  dies,"  but  is  al- 
wa3^s  pulsating  through  the  present,  voices  call  and  the  touch  of 
hands  that  have  melted  into  dust  is  upon  us. 

One  of  the  customs  of  the  unenlightened  Abyssinian  Church, 
in  ordination  to  the  episcopal  office,  is  to  touch  the  head  of  the 
ordinand  with  the  dead  hand  of  one  of  his  predecessors.  Stripped 
of  the  superstitions  that  seem  to  be  its  real  motive,  this  rite  re- 
mains a  symbol,  however  crass  and  repulsive,  of  the  vital  con- 
nection between  the  former  chiefs  of  the  Church  and  its  present 
ministry. 

Nor  can  human  influence  dispense  with  physical  means  and  in- 
struments. For  we  are  still  in  the  flesh.  There  is  the  possibility 
of  power  in  a  touch,  in  a  hand-grasp,  in  a  laying  on  of  hands. 
"With  the  dropping  of  a  little  word,"  says  Helen  Keller,  "from 
another's  hand  into  mine,  a  slight  flutter  of  the  fingers,  began 
the  intelligence,  the  joy,  the  fullness  of  life."^  When  the  Apos- 
tles laid  hands  upon  the  Seven,  or  the  presbytery  laid  hands  upon 

"The  World  I  Live  In,"  pp.  5,  6. 


298  Christianity  as  Organized 

sincere  but  self-distrustful  young  Timoth}-,  it  may  be  believed 
that  the  physical  contact  itself  meant  something.  It  was  a  tactual 
sign  of  authorization,  of  Christian  confidence,  of  love  and  prayer. 
Such  symbolic  acts  are  not  irrational  or  unspiritual :  they  make 
appeal  to  the  soul  by  way  of  the  senses.  But  to  afiirm  that, 
through  mere  mechanical  action,  they  communicate  the  presence 
and  abiding  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  to  put  them  out  of 
harmony  with  all  other  intercommunion  of  soul  with  soul.  And 
not  as  elevating  them  above  it  into  some  sublimer  sphere  of 
their  own,  but  as  thrusting  them  down  upon  the  bare  physical 
plane. 

High  Anglicanism  is  even  more  materialistic  at  this  point  than 
Romanism.  For  it  regards  the  act  of  the  priest  in  baptism,  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  in  ordination,  and  in  confirmation,  as  suflfi- 
cient  to  impart  grace,  whether  he  intend  to  impart  it  or  not,  while 
Romanism  demands  the  sacerdotal  "intention."  "If  any  one," 
declares  the  Council  of  Trent,  "shall  say  -that  in  ministers,  while 
they  effect  and  confer  the  sacraments,  there  is  not  required  the 
intention  at  least  of  doing  what  the  Church  does,  let  him  be 
anathema.'"'  It  is  true  that  the  Romanist  here  passes  into  a  "very 
dungeon  of  uncertainties."  For  who  can  tell  in  any  case  whether 
the  officiating  priest  has  the  proper  intention  or  not  ?  and  accord- 
ingly who  can  tell  whether  any  particular  bishop,  much  less  each 
and  every  whole  line  of  bishops  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles 
onward,  has  received,  through  the  hands  of  episcopal  ordainers, 
the  grace  absolutely  necessary  to  qualify  him  to  ordain  others 
and  so  to  perpetuate  the  sacerdotal  line?^  These  special  uncer- 
tainties the  High  Anglican  avoids,  but  only  by  making  the 
priestly    act    still    more    mechanical    than    that    of    the    Roman 

^Sess.  VII.,  can.  xi. 

^"Again  the  Bishop  [of  Minorca]  supposed  another  case.  Suppose  a  bad 
priest  without  right  intention  baptizes  a  child,  and  the  child  becomes  a 
bishop,  and  ordains  other  bishops.  The  consequences  would  be  too  frightful 
to  think  of.  There  could  be  no  Church  without  a  bishop,  and  no  true  bishop 
who  was  not  baptized.  The  speaker  urged  the  Council  to  declare  that  if  the 
form  was  rightly  observed,  intention  made  no  difference."  (Froude,  "The 
Council  of  Trent,"  p.  222.) 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  299 

priest/  The  Anglican  officiating  minister's  hands  and  tongue, 
without  will,  suffice.  Automatic  action,  destitute  of  all  intelli- 
gence, desire,  or  purpose,  may  serve  as  the  means,  Divinely  ap- 
pointed, of  conveying  grace  to  a  believing  soul.' 

In  fact,  the  officiating  minister  may  have  an  "evil  intention," 
and  yet,  against  his  will,  through  the  mere  outward  act  per- 
formed, the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  be  conveyed,  provided 
always  that  there  is  a  laying  on  of  hands  and  the  utterance  of 
the  prescribed  formula.  But  never  otherwise.^  It  is  a  purely 
mechanical  transmission  of  the  grace  of  God  to  a  properly  re- 
cipient soul.  As  in  the  case  of  friend  speaking  to  friend  through 
the  telephone,  there  must  be  a  particular  and  fixed  physical  me- 
dium as  well  as  an  attentive  mind  to  receive  the  message ;  else 
no  communication  is  established.    One  might  be  excused  for  ask- 

'"The  essential  matter  of  ordination  to  the  episcopate  is  the  imposition 
of  the  bishop's  hands  and  the  Form  prayer."  (Blunt,  Dictionary  of  His- 
torical and  Doctrinal  Theology,  Art.  "Bishops.")  To  prove  these  essential 
requirements  to  have  been  met  in  every  case  is  a  sheer  impossibility.  Yet 
the  Romanist  must  prove,  in  addition,  that  they  have  been  met  with  a  good 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  officiating  bishop — a  double  impossibility.  As  to 
mechanicalness,  however,  the  Roman  is  distinct!}'  preferable  to  the  Anglican 
conception. 

"Observe,  faith  on  the  part  of  the  recipient  is  an  indispensable  condition. 
"The  sacramental  gifts  are  valid  through  the  action  of  the  Spirit  without  any 
action  on  our  part.  They  are  God's  gifts  simply.  But  their  whole  effect  on 
us  depends  on  the  degree  of  assimilative  effort — the  degree  of  faith — which 
we  exercise."  (Gore,  "The  Mission  of  the  Church,"  53.)  But  the  same 
"assimilative  effort,"  the  same  faith,  if  exercised  in  any  other  circumstances 
—for  example,  on  one's  knees  at  home,  or  at  a  table  of  the  Lord  where  the 
bread  and  wine  had  not  been  consecrated  by  an  episcopally  ordained  inin- 
ister — would  be  followed  by  no  such  effect.  Without  the  interposition  of  a 
bishop  tactually  descended  from  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  not  convey  the  "sacramental  gifts." 

*"If  the  minister  of  any  sacrament  were  to  perform  it  with  the  profane 
and  perverse  intention  of  openly  ridiculing  it,  or  making  it  invalid,  then 
indeed  there  might  be  reasonable  doubt  whether  his  ministration  would  be 
effective.  But  if  he  uses  the  prescribed  rites  and  words,  he  acts  as  the 
deputy  of  the  Church,  and  no  deficient  or  evil  intention  can  affect  the  validity 
of  what  depends  on  his  ministerial  acts,  and  not  on  his  private  and  personal 
will."  (Bhmt,  "Dictionary  of  Historical  and  Doctrinal  Theology,"  Art.  "In- 
tention."") 


300  Christianity  as  Organized 

ing  whether  this  is  really  believed  or  merely  "accepted"  or  be- 
lieved to  be  believed. 

We  are  reminded  by  the  Ritualist  that  Christianity  is  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Incarnation,  and  are  told  that  therefore  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  expect  that  the  grace  of  Christ  which  makes  a  man  a 
genuine  minister  of  the  gospel  shall  flow  into  his  soul  through 
a  material  channel.  But  such  a  conclusion  goes  hopelessly  astray 
from  its  premises.  Let  us  listen,  however,  to  the  argument : 
"  'Tactual  succession,  can  that  convey  grace  ?'  I  answer  yes, 
if  God  so  wnlls;  and  I  am  convinced  that  he  does  so  will,  be- 
cause he  rules  the  New  Dispensation,  our  Christian  system,  by 
the  law  of  the  Incarnation — the  law,  namely,  that  God  througii 
the  person  of  his  Eternal  Son  comes  to  us  through  the  agency  of 
matter — and  hence  I  w^ould  anticipate,  as  I  find  verified  in  the 
event,  that  all  subordinate  blessings,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  his 
kingdom,  and  all  other  blessings  are  subordinate  to  Jesus  Christ, 
are  conveyed  to  me  through  the  instrumentality  of  matter."'^  Un- 
doubtedly so,  since  in  this  world  it  is  impossible  to  live  at  all  ex- 
cept "through  the  instrumentality  of  matter.''  But  does  it  follow 
from  this  truth  that  grace  is  made  to  flow  through  flesh  ?  Phys- 
ical processes  cooperate  with  spiritual  processes,  but  do  not  sub- 
stitute them.  "Grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,"  the  Word 
was  made  flesh ;  but  there  is  no  more  reason  to  believe  that  the 
"grace"  can  be  imparted  tactually  than  the  "truth."  Tt  was  the 
incarnate  Saviour  who  said :  "The  flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the 
words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  are  life." 

3.  Testimony  of  Christian  and  Ministerial  Experience. 
Nor  is  the  case  anywise  different  when  the  testimony  of  Chris- 
tian and  ministerial  experience  is  called  for.  Those  who  would 
receive  the  Holy  Spirit  must  await  the  realization  of  his  pres- 
ence in  prayer,  wnth  an  open  and  believing  heart.  Those  who 
will  to  do  God's  will  are  taught  of  him  and  made  strong  in  his 
service.  Meeting  together  in  worship,  they  are  helpful  to  one 
another  and  prepared  to  receive  a  greater  spiritual  gift.     If  at 

^The  Rt.  Rev.  G.  F.  Seymour,  in  "Church  Reunion."  p.  185. 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  301 

the  table  of  the  Lord  they  are  drawn  consciously  nearer  to  him 
who,  not  having  been  seen,  is  nevertlieless  loved,  it  is  through 
faith  and  trust  and  self-consecration  no  less  truly  than  if  they 
were  kneeling  in  the  place  of  secret  devotion.  This  is  surely  the 
witness  of  the  Christian  consciousness.  As  to  a  peculiar  "sac- 
ramental" grace,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  experience  but  of  hearsay. 

And  is  it  otherwise  on  the  occasion  of  one's  ordination  to  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel,  or  to  the  office  of  a  bishop  in  the  Church 
of  God?  Is  there  in  this  case  any  such  realization  of  divine  pow- 
er as  one  must  interpret  as  a  sign  of  grace  given  by  the  act  of 
ordination  itself?  If  the  man  rise  up  and  leave  the  house  of 
prayer  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  vocation,  is  it  not  an  ex- 
perience of  the  same  kind,  however  different  possibly  in  degree, 
as  more  than  once  before  has  glorified  his  daily  life? 

4.  The  Practical  Test. 

But  there  is  a  practical  test  of  religious  systems ;  and  it  also  is 
divine.  Jesus  has  said  concerning  false  prophets :  "By  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them.'"  Does  he  announce  in  this  word  a  prin- 
ciple that  may  be  applied  in  the  present  case  ?  It  would  seem  so. 
For  we  are  not  here  dealing  with  a  doctrine  or  a  form  of  polity 
that  is  only  one  among  others  of  perhaps  equal  value,  and  in  it- 
self indecisive  as  to  whether  the  religious  body  representing  it 
be  really  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  a  question  as  to  whether 
a  body  of  religious  people  possess  a  certain  "permanent  and  ^.y- 
sentiol  element  of  Christianity;"  whether  they  have  a  valid  min- 
istry and  valid  Christian  ordinances ;  in  brief,  whether  they  be  a 
church  of  Christ  or  not.    It  is  no  surface  question.    It  goes,  with 

'Matt.  vii.  15-18. 

^"The  fundamental  difference,  then,  which  divides  the  evangeHcal  from 
the  sacerdotal  idea  is  theological ;  the  Gospel  reposes  on  the  sovereign  pa- 
ternity of  God,  and  his  immediate  relation  through  Jesus  Christ  with  all 
men.  But  in  this  is  contained  a  second  difference  which  is  as  decisive  and 
determinate — the  conditions  of  acceptance  with  him  are  all  spiritual  and 
ethical.  They  are  in  no  respect  sensuous  and  formal,  depending  on  rites 
observed  or  external  relations  established."  (Fairbairn,  "Studies  in  Reli- 
gion and  Theology,"  p.  131.) 


302  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  question  of  true  prophet  or  false,  fig-  tree  or  thistle,  shepherd 
or  robber,  to  the  heart  of  the  matter. 

If  certain  cong-regated  Christians  alone  possess  and  use  the 
"social  sacraments"  by  dependence  on  which  is  given  that  ''fel- 
lowship with  God"  which  every  Christian  receives  "as  an  endow- 
ment of  his  personal  life,"  so  that  they  do  constitute  a  real  church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  while  the  religious  communions  existing  side 
by  side  with  them  are  only  schismatics  and  pretenders,  then  they 
will  be  holier  men  than  these  others.  Where  is  the  benefit  of  a 
depositary  and  channel  of  grace,  if  those  who  have  the  exclusive 
enjoyment  of  it  are  no  better  morally  and  spiritually  than  the 
members  of  other  religious  bodies?  They  will  be  better.  They 
will  be  less  worldly,  less  arrogant  and  contemptuous,  purer  in 
heart  and  life,  with  a  heightened  power  of  conscience,  with  a 
deeper  peace  and  a  larger  joy.  more  self-sacrificing,  more  useful, 
with  greater  power  in  prayer  and  in  persuasive  speech  with  their 
fellows,  humbler,  more  zealous ;  in  a  word,  more  Christlike.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  do  they  prove  themselves  to  be  so? 

Collectively  they  will  be  clothed  with  a  spiritual  power  that  no 
organized  company  of  schismatics  can  ever  hope  to  know.  Given 
an  equal  opportunity  with  those  who  have  cut  themselves  off, 
through  either  willfulness  or  ignorance,  from  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed ministry  of  grace,  they  will  lead  greater  multitudes  of 
men  to  the  Saviour,  both  at  home  and  in  foreign  lands.  Not  only 
so;  but  they  will  develop  in  their  communicants,  day  by  day, 
through  that  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  they  alone  can  dis- 
pense, a  higher  type  of  Christian  experience  and  character  than 
is  possible  under  a  mere  so-called  ministry  of  the  gospel.  Have 
they  done  so? 

"Thank  God  for  the  Historic  Episcopate,  the  spinal  cord  of 
the  Catholic  Church" — such  is  the  fervent  doxology  of  the  bishop 
whose  words  were  quoted  a  moment  ago — "which  carries  down 
from  the  Divine  Head — Christ  our  Lord,  God  over  all  in  heaven 
— the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  diffuses  them  through  orders 
and  sacraments  and  services,  as  nervous  vitality  permeates  the 
body  and  fills  it  with  life  from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  303 

sole  of  the  foot."*  It  is  the  members  of  such  communions  as  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church,  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  that  are  here 
spoken  of  as  sole  recipients  of  these  unceasing  great  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  which  flow  into  the  soul  from  Clirist  through  the 
historic  succession  of  bishops.  No  one  save  the  members  of 
these  particular  communions  is  a  member  of  the  Church,  which 
is  the  body  of  Christ;  no  one  but  they  can  receive  any  of  these 
"gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Other  Clu-istian  communions  are 
like  a  human  body  destitute  of  the  spinal  cord.  May  we  not  be 
permitted,  then,  to  ask  for  the  evidence  that  the  spiritual  life  of 
all  other  Christians  is  low  and  poor  indeed,  a  mere  flabby  in- 
vertebrate life,  as,  according  to  the  argument,  it  must  be,  rela- 
tively to  that  of  Roman  Catholic  or  Orthodox  Eastern  or  Angli- 
can or  Protestant  Episcopal  Christians?^ 

Nor  will  it  avail  to  say  that  the  gift  of  covenanted  grace  may 
lie  unused  in  the  soul,  like  a  talent  buried  in  the  earth.  This 
negative  result  can  hardly  be  conceived  as  possible.     May  un- 

^The  Rt.  Rev.  G.  F.  Seymour,  in  "Church  Reunion,"  p.  189. 

^Dr.  William  Jones  Seabury,  in  his  "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Eccle- 
siastical Polity,"  would  seem  to  think  that  the  nonsuccessional  churches,  or 
"schismatical  societies,"  as  he  calls  them,  are  but  poorly  able  to  stand  such 
a  test.  "And  it  may  be  assumed  that  such  evidences  as  they  give  of  the 
possession  of  the  grace  of  God  are  due  to  the  mercy  of  God,  who  does  not 
hold  them  responsible  for  a  position  which  is  attributable  to  the  fault  of 
others  rather  than  of  themselves"  (p.  50).  "Such  evidences  as  they  give:" 
is  that  a  word  of  truth? 

Bishop  Gore  is  less  depreciatory  (though  he  fails  to  touch  the  real  point 
in  question)  :  "It  follows  then — not  that  God's  grace  has  not  worked,  and 
worked  largely  through  many  an  irregular  ministry  where  it  was  exercised  in 
good  faith — but  that  a  ministry  not  episcopally  received  is  invalid — that  is  to 
say,  falls  outside  the  conditions  of  covenanted  security  and  cannot  justify  it- 
self in  terms  of  the  covenant."     ("The  Church  and  the  Ministry,"  p.  313.) 

But  Dean  Lefroy,  not  a  sacerdotalist,  represents  the  judgment  in  which 
most  unbiased  minds  would  probably  feel  constrained  to  unite :  "Does  the 
apostolic  succession  render  its  believers,  or  even  its  representatives,  types  of 
a  superior  ethical  order?  Are  they  illustrations  of  peculiar  grace?  Are  men 
rendered  especially  hoh%  or  conspicuously  active,  or  self-denying,  or  diligent, 
by  apostolic  succession?  ...  In  real  sadness  it  may  be  asserted  that  few 
hypotheses  are  more  at  variance  with  individual  experience,  not  to  refer  to 
observation  and  to  history."     ("The  Christian  Ministry,"  p.  350.) 


3^4  Christianity  as  Organised 

used  grace  be  kept?  But  supposing  that  it  be  possible,  and  that 
any  ten  thousand  Christians,  let  us  say,  who  are  taught  that  they 
have  received  this  grace,  fail  to  show  the  least  moral  and  spir- 
itual superiority  over  any  ten  thousand  Christians  who  of  a  cer- 
tainty have  not  received  it,  living  side  by  side  with  them,  one 
cannot  help  doubting  the  utility  and  by  consequence  the  reality 
of  the  bestowment. 

Take,  for  illustration,  the  somewhat  analogous  case  of  nat- 
ural talent.  A  man  may  have  from  the  hand  of  God  a  gift  of 
reasoning,  of  imagination,  of  music,  of  eloquence,  and  through 
unfaithfulness  in  the  use  of  it  become  no  better  reasoner,  poet, 
musician,  speaker,  than  his  neighbor  who  is  destitute  of  this 
special  endowment.  But  if  the  men  for  whom  such  gifts  are 
claimed  fail  as  a  class,  through  the  ages,  to  show  any  superiority 
to  the  ungifted  in  the  same  calling,  who  would  wish  to  share  the 
responsibility  of  their  lot?  Or  suppose  that  they  should  show 
inferiority. 

It  is  a  topic  on  which  one  has  no  heart  to  linger.  Let  us  con- 
clude with  a  brief  recall  of  the  main  points  in  the  discussion: 
( I )  Nothing  short  of  the  plain  teaching  of  the  New  Testament 
is  sufficient  proof  of  a  priestly  tactual  succession  of  bishops 
through  whom  alone  the  Church  of  Christ  can  be  perpetuated 
on  earth ;  but  when  this  proof  is  asked  for,  the  answer  is  no  bet- 
ter than  a  stone  for  bread.  (2)  Even  if  a  line  of  episcopal  or- 
dinations were  proved,  as  a  historic  fact,  this  would  by  no  means 
show  it  to  be  a  channel  of  mechanically  imparted  grace ;  but  such 
a  line  has  never  been  proved,  and  is  confessedly  incapable  of 
proof.  (3)  The  idea  of  this  tactual  impartation  of  grace  is  con- 
trary to  all  that  we  know  through  reason,  experience,  and  the 
Scriptures  of  the  ways  of  God  with  men  as  living  and  rational 
souls.  (4)  The  fruits  of  the  supposed  episcopal  succession,  in 
the  lives  of  private  church-members  as  well  as  of  "bishops  and 
other  clergy,"  when  compared  with  the  lives  of  Christians  and 
ministers  of  Christ  generally,  are  unfavorable  to  belief  in  its 
reality. 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  305 

5.  Claim  of  Apostolicity  for  the  Two  Lower  Orders. 

Not  only  in  its  main  contention — the  tactual  line  of  apostolic 
bishops — but  also  in  its  claim  of  apostolicity  for  the  two  lower 
orders  of  the  ministry/  the  successional  theory  must  forego 
Scripture  proof. 

(i)  "Their  [the  New  Testament  churches']  deacons,"  says 
Archbishop  Whately,  "appear  to  have  had  an  office  considerably 
different  from  those  of  our  Church.'"'  But  the  word  "consider- 
ably" is  here  inadequate.  The  diaconate  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland retains  hardly  a  vestige  of  resemblance  to  anything  that 
is  known  as  the  diaconate  in  the  New  Testament.  To  say  that 
the  two  are  essentially,  or  in  principle,  the  same,  would  be  to 
say  that  financial  ministration  to  the  poor  is  essentially  the  same 
function  as  preaching,  baptizing,  and  assisting  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  name  only  has  been  re- 
tained.^ 

(2)  And  in  the  case  of  the  presbyterate,  even  the  name  has 
been  cast  aside,  and  a  totally  different  designation  adopted.  A 
name  that  the  New  Testament  ne\'er  gives  to  any  office  in  the 
Church  of  Jesus,  the  name  priesthood,  is  used  for  the  office  to 
which  the  deacon  is  promoted.  He  becomes  a  priest.  Com- 
paring, then,  the  parish  priest  of  to-day  with  any  member  of  the 
council  of  presbyters  in  an  apostolic  church,  must  the  candid 
student  say  that  the  two  offices  are  essentially  the  same,  or  that 
they  are  essentially  and  almost  wholly  different  ? 

^"It  [the  threefold  apostolic  ministry]  has  been  called  the  historic  back- 
bone of  the  Church.  It  is  more  than  this.  It  is  the  divinely  appointed  chan- 
nel of  life  and  grace.  .  .  .  The  apostolic  ministry  in  its  threefold  order 
pertains  to  the  esse  and  not  merely  to  the  bene  esse  of  the  Church."  (Wirg- 
man,  "The  Constitutional  Authority  of  Bishops,"  pp.  5,  6.) 

^"The  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  Essay  II.,  Sec.  20. 

'Canon  Liddon,  it  is  true,  has  said  that,  according  to  the  teaching  of  the 
New  Testament,  deacons,  by  a  detachment  of  the  plenitude  of  ministerial 
power  from  the  .Apostles,  were  "specially  empowered  to  preach  and  to  ad- 
minister the  sacrament  of  baptism."  ("Clerical  Life  and  Work,"  p.  293.) 
But  how  the  great  and  courageous  High-Church  preacher  could  get  the  con- 
sent of  his  mind  to  make  such  an  assertion,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  understand. 
20 


3o6  Christianity  as  Organij^ed 

If,  therefore,  it  be  held  that  the  threefold  ministry  is  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  divine  constitution  of  the  Church,  one  of  these 
two  things  must  also  be  taken  as  true :  either  the  requirement  of 
this  divine  law  is  satisfied  in  the  mere  existence  of  three  minis- 
terial orders,  without  reference  to  their  functions,  the  triple  num- 
ber alone  being  essential,  or  this  requirement  has  been  violated 
outright  in  the  Anglican,  as  indeed  in  every  other.  Church. 

6.  The  Episcopate  as  a  Center  of  Unity. 

Let  us  now  recall  the  fact  that  Cyprian  put  forth  his  doctrine 
of  the  episcopate,  as  Irenseus  had  put  forth  his,  and  Ignatius  his, 
in  the  interest  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  It  is  a  cause  inexpressibly 
dear  to  the  Christian  heart.  It  was  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
newly  converted  but  strong  and  self-denying  martyr-bishop  of 
Carthage.  The  treatise  which  may  be  taken  as  in  some  sort  the 
key  of  interpretation  to  all  his  writings  is  "On  the  Uuity  of  the 
Church."  "The  episcopate,"  so  he  insists  in  this  little  book,  "is 
one,  each  part  of  which  is  held  by  each  for  the  whole.  The 
Church  also  is  one,  which  is  spread  abroad  far  and  wide  into  a 
multitude  b)^  the  increase  of  fruitfulness"  (c.  5).  Nor  is  it  any 
wonder  that  a  man  of  Cyprian's  creed  should  be  an  apologist  of 
unity.  For  he  cannot  even  think  of  the  salvation  of  a  soul  outside 
the  Catholic  Church :  schism  as  well  as  heresy  is  fatal.  Believing 
thus,  how  could  he  do  less  than  his  best  to  maintain  the  undi- 
vided Church  ?    It  was  to  him  the  one  refuge  of  imperiled  souls  ? 

But  the  conception  of  the  episcopate  as  a  center  of  unity  is  not 
peculiar  to  those  first  centuries.  It  has  persisted  as  a  formative 
ecclesiastic  idea.  In  the  newer  as  in  the  older  episcopal  com- 
munions, in  the  evangelical  as  in  the  sacerdotal,  it  is  operative 
to-day.^ 

Is  the  bishop,  then,  in  point  of  fact,  an  appreciable  center  of 
unity?    As  truly  as  the  governor  of  a  state,  or  the  president  of 

^"Hence  the  episcopate,  which  is  the  continuation  of  the  Apostolic  min- 
istry, appears  as  the  divinely  appointed  center  of  the  unity  of  the  visible 
Church."    (Seaburj-,  "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  p.  49.) 

"We  do  hereby  affirm  that  the  Christian  unity,  novir  so  earnestly  desired 
by  the   memorialists,   can   be    restored   only  by  the   return   of   all    Christian 


Apostolic  Siiccessioi:  Unreal,  Real  307 

any  voluntary  society,  or  the  Christian  pastor  of  a  local  congre- 
gation. The  experience  of  the  centuries,  as  well  as  the  nature  of 
the  case,  may  certainly  put  this  question  outside  the  range  of 
reasonable  doubt. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  still  be  asked,  Might  not  some  other  meth- 
od have  been  better?  Congregationalism  finds  a  bond  of  union 
in  its  National  Council  of  ministers  and  lay  delegates,  and  Pres- 
byterianism  in  its  General  Assembly  of  teaching  and  of  ruling 
elders.  Tf  either  of  these  methods  had  been  followed  in  Chris- 
tianity from  the  beginning,  the  evils  peculiarly  incident  to  the 
bishop's  otiice  would  have  been  avoided.  And  might  not  one  or 
the  other  of  them  have  been  sufficient?  Would  it  not  have  been 
sufficient  in  the  Church's  formative  period — in  the  time  of  Ig- 
natius, of  Irenaeus,  of  Cyprian — when,  by  reason  of  repeated  per- 
secutions from  without  and  powerful  heresies  within,  threaten- 
ing to  scatter  and  devour,  the  demand  for  Christian  unity  was  in 
the  highest  degree  imperative?  Would  it  not  have  been  suffi- 
cient even  in  the  heterogeneous  populations  and  amid  the  igno- 
rance and  turbulence  of  the  Dark  Ages — and  have  made  them 
somewhat  less  dark?  It  may  be  so.  One  might  reconstruct  the 
history  of  the  Church  from  the  standpoint  of  such  a  hypothesis, 
so  as  to  show  through  the  power  of  imagination  a  much  fairer 

communions  to  the  principles  of  unity  exemplified  by  the  undivided  Catholic 
Church  during  the  first  ages  of  its  existence,  which  principles  we  believe  to 
be  the  substantial  Deposit  of  Christian  Faith  and  Order  committed  by  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  to  the  Church  unto  the  end  of  the  world.     .     .     . 

".A.s  inherent  parts  of  this  sacred  Deposit,  and  therefore  as  essential  to  the 
restoration  of  unity  among  the  divided  branches  of  Christendom,  we  account 
the  following,  to  wit,     .     .     . 

"iv.  The  Historic  Episcopate."  Declaration  of  the  House  of  Bishops 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  October  20,  1886. 

"Q.  What  is  another  connectional  bond? 

"A.  The  Joint  Itinerant  Superintendency — equally  .related  to  the  whole 
Church  and  supported  by  the  whole  Church."  (McTyeire,  "A  Catechism  of 
Church  Government,"  pp.  123,  124.) 

"Q.  Which,  then,  is  the  better  form  of  Episcopacy? 

"A.  If  to  promote  unity  and  repress  schism  be  the  main  end  and  purpose 
of  this  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  the  better  form  is  that  which  is  general, 
not  that  which  is  diocesan."     (Ibid.,  p.  85.) 


3o8  Christianity  as  Organised 

picture  than  has  in  fact  appeared.  But  probably  few  historians 
would  be  willing  to  do  it.  The  need  of  some  sort  of  personal 
leadership  and  superintendence  would  be  seriously  felt.  And  at 
best  the  "ifs"  of  historic  study  are  illusory  guides. 

But  while  the  episcopate  may  well  be  recognized  as  an  effective 
unifier  of  Christian  congregations,  it  cannot  be  forgotten  that 
false  or  exorbitant  claims,  on  the  part  of  bishop  or  any  other 
ruler,  do  not  make  for  real  unity.  These  are  divisive  forces.^ 
For  a  time,  or  even,  as  men  count  the  years,  for  a  very  long 
time,  they  do  in  some  instances  achieve  their  purpose.  They 
have  achieved  it  with  large  success,  though  with  equally  large 
failure,  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  But  the  purpose  itself  is  false. 
The  ideal  is  unchristian.  It  is  not  organism  but  aggregation,  the 
forcing  of  men  together  by  external  pressure — as  if  they  were 
so  many  blocks  of  concrete  to  be  shaped  and  placed,  instead  of 
living  persons  to  be  guided  and  governed  into  unity.  Will  it 
ultimately  succeed?  It  cannot,  unless  the  moral  progress  of  the 
world  is  to  be  inhibited.  Men  will  discover  and  reject  the  false 
or  irrational  rule. 

Dean  E.  M.  Goulbourn,  a  most  earnest  and  de\'0'Ut  High 
Churchman,  describes  the  English  Establishment  as  in  danger 
of  disastrous  schism.  The  persistent  contending  of  the  High- 
Church  and  the  Low-Church  party  has  of  late  "imperilled  the 
existence  of  their  common  mother,"  "Then,"  he  continues,  "just 
as  this  struggle  is  growing  desperate,  a  cry  is  raised,  by  those 
who  are  jealous  of  the  Church's  position,  for  her  disestablish- 
ment and  disendowment — steps  which,  if  carried  into  effect, 
would  certainly  weaken  her  already  feeble  powers  of  coherence, 
and  split  her  into  two  or  three  narrow  factions."    Let  us  earnest- 

^"Then  as  to  the  danger  of  schism,  nothing  can  be  more  calculated  to  cre- 
ate or  increase  it  than  to  add  to  all  the  other  sources  of  difference  among 
Christians  these  additional  ones  resulting  from  the  theory  we  are  considering 
[that  of  a  personal  apostolic  succession].  ...  In  short,  there  is  no  imagi- 
nable limit  to  the  schisms  that  may  be  introduced  and  kept  up  through  the 
operation  of  these  principles,  advocated  especially  with  a  view  to  the  repres- 
sion of  schism."     (Whately,  "The  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  Essay  ii.,  sec.  31.) 

*"The  Holy  Catholic  Church,"  p.  118. 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  309 

ly  hope  that  it  is  not  true — heheving-,  as  we  may,  that  disestab- 
lishment, by  giving  rehcf  from  (Usabhng  embarrassments  and 
burdens,  would  prove  a  signal  blessing.  But  if  it  be  true,  then 
the  Church  of  England  herself  is  held  together  not  by  the  Epis- 
copal Succession  which  she  so  strongly  commends  as  an  indis- 
pensable principle  of  the  Church's  unity,  but  by  the  endowments 
and  control  of  the  state. 

7.  The  Real  Apostolic  Succession. 

The  fable  has  its  moral.  The  myth  is  an  embodiment  of  cer- 
tain visionary  ideas  about  earth  or  sky.  Similarly  the  ecclesi- 
astic priesthood  represents,  in  distorted  form,  a  truth  of  life  and 
religion.  It  represents  the  universal  need  of  some  purely  human 
mediation  between  God  and  the  soul.  And  undoubtedly  this  is 
a  truth ;  for  how  many  of  us  would  ever  find  our  way  to  the 
Father  of  spirits,  "though  he  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us," 
were  it  not  for  the  friends  who  come  with  knowledge,  sympathy, 
persuasion,  personal  example,  to  lead  their  fellows  to  him?  The 
salvation  of  men  is  verily  by  God  drawing  near  to  them  through 
their  fellow-men. 

Now  of  this  great  spiritual  reality,  the  ecclesiastic  priesthood 
presents  a  superstitious  perversion.  And  similar  to  the  priestly 
office  is  the  tactual  succession  upon  which  it  is  wont  to  rest  its 
claim.  As  the  former  differs  from  the  Christian  priesthood,  so 
the  latter  differs  from  the  ministerial  succession  in  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  It  is  the  difference  between  the  unreal  and  the  real. 
For  as  there  is  a  true  priesthood,  so  there  is  a  true  ministerial 
succession.  Its  origin  is  unmistakably  shown  in  the  Scriptures; 
its  spiritual  fruits  are  manifest  farand  wide  in  the  world  of  to-day. 

( I )  It  is  a  divine  succession.  It  comes  from  above,  and 
through  no  human  intermediaries.'     Out  of  what  personal  ex- 

^"There  are  in  the  last  analysis  two,  and  only  two,  coherent  theories  of 
the  origin  and  character  of  the  Christian  ministry.  Of  these  one  makes  the 
minister  the  elected  delegate  of  the  congregation;  in  teaching  and  minister- 
ing he  exerts  an  authority  which  he  derives  from  his  flock.  The  other  traces 
ministerial  authority  to  the  Person  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  deposited 
it  in  its  fullness  in  the  College  of  Apostles."     (Liddon,  sermon  on  "A  Father 


3io  Christianity  as  Organised 

perience  does  it  arise?  Out  of  the  call  of  God  in  the  soul  and 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  which  follows  upon  the  whole-hearted 
response  to  that  call.  It  is  the  succession  which  began  with  the 
prophets  of  Jehovah,  proclaiming  his  will  and  foretelling,  ac- 
cording to  the  knowledge  given  them,  the  Christ  who  was  to 
come.  It  was  exemplified  in  Elijah  the  prophet  and  John  the 
prophet  "and  more  than  a  prophet."  Here  were  two  men  in  two 
far-separated  ages  of  the  Church's  history ;  two  men  but  one 
calling,  one  spirit,  one  power  of  word  and  deed,  so  that  the  very 
name  of  the  earlier  preacher  was  given  by  the  Lord  of  them 
both,  and  of  us  all,  to  the  later.  It  is  the  succession  in  which 
the  Apostles  lived  and  wrought.  Therefore  it  is  those  who  are 
called  with  the  same  essential  calling  and  are  quickened  by  the 
same  Spirit  of  power  that  follow  in  the  way  of  prophet  and 
Apostle,  now  and  ever. 

With  obedience  to  such  a  ^'ocation,  a  man  must  be  a  true  min- 
ister of  Jesus  Christ.  Without  it  he  cannot  be.  The  vocation 
itself  speaks  with  the  voice  of  authority  and  is  imperative. 

(2)  It  is  ecclesiastical.  Not  indeed  necessarily  so.  Even  if 
the  church  with  which  he  is  connected  should  refuse  its  indorse- 
ment, the  man  sent  of  God  must,  as  opportunity  offers,  teach  and 
preach  Jesus  Christ.  But  such  a  case  would  be  exceptional  and  rare. 
Ordinarily  the  Christian  preacher  will  go  forth  under  the  authori- 
ty and  approval  of  the  Christian  congregation.  The  call  of  God 
in  the  soul  will  take  outward  form  in  the  call  of  the  Church. 

Was  it  not  so  in  the  apostolic  churches?  The  people  were  to 
accept  or  reject  him  who  came  to  them,  or  rose  up  among  them, 
professing  to  be  a  prophet  of  God.  For  though  they  might  them- 
selves be  unable  to  interpret  the  will  of  God  in  thrilling  and  con- 
vincing speech,  yet  it  was  within  their  province  to  judge  the  pro- 
phetic word  of  others — as  one  need  not  be  himself  a  creative 

in  Christ,"  in  "Clerical  Life  and  Work.")  There  is  certainly  a  third  coherent 
theory  that  remains  undissolved  by  "the  last  analysis" — namely,  that  the  voca- 
tion to  the  Christian  ministry  is  directly  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  attested  by 
Scripture  signs,  and  officially  recognized  by  the  constituted  authorities  of 
some  Christian  communion. 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  311 

poet  or  musician  in  order  to  perceive  what  true  poetry  or  music 
is.  Though  unable  to  do  the  work  of  a  prophet,  all  who  were 
of  the  truth  were  qualified  to  "receive  a  prophet  in  the  name  of 
a  prophet" — and  share  in  his  reward. 

"All  who  were  of  the  truth" — for  did  not  the  Master  himself 
say  that  these,  and  not  only  official  teachers  or  preachers,  are 
they  who  hear  liis  voice?  No  matter  how  unschooled  or  down- 
trodden, they  may  know  him  and  walk  in  the  very  light  of  God. 
It  was  of  such  as  these,  indeed,  that  the  first  Christian  congre- 
gations were,  to  a  large  extent,  composed.  "Not  many  wise  after 
the  flesh,  .  .  .  not  many  noble."  Slaves,  children  of  bar- 
barians, common  people,  these,  converted  to  Christ,  seem  for  the 
most  part  to  have  made  up  the  churches  to  which  the  chief  of 
the  Apostles  ministered.  And  yet  what  potentiality  of  spiritual 
knowledge  he  was  able  to  see  in  them  all !  So  he  prays  for  them : 
"That  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in  knowledge 
and  all  discernment  ;"^  "That  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Father  of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  him,  having  the  eyes  of  your 
heart  enlightened ;""  "That  ye  may  be  filled  with  the  knowledge 
of  his  will  in  all  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding."''  What 
more  could  he  have  desired  for  the  teachers  themselves  than  he 
did  repeatedly  ask  of  God  for  their  congregations  of  Christian 
believers,  worshipers,  hearers? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  gift  of  speaking  God's  word  would 
be  fruitless  and  vain  without  its  complement,  the  hearer's  gift 
of  recognizing  that  spoken  word.  It  would  fall  dead  upon  his 
ears.  Only  he  that  has  ears  can  hear :  only  he  that  is  "spiritual" 
can  "judge.'"* 

But  did  not  our  Lord  bid  his  disciples  "judge  not?"  Truly 
so;  and  at  the  same  time  to  "beware  of  false  prophets,"  who 
should  be  known  by  "their  fruits.'"*  Accordingly  the  Christian 
people,  while  admonished  by  their  apostolic  teachers  to  "despise 
not  prophesyings,"  were  at  the  same  time  bidden  to  "prove  all 

'Phil.  i.  9.       ''Eph.  i.  17.      'Co!,  i.  iq.       't  Cor.  ii.  15.       "^Matt.  vii.  i,  15,  16 


312  Christianity  as  Organised 

things"  and  "hold  fast  that  which  is  good."^  They  must  "prove 
the  spirits,  whether  they  are  of  God,"^  and  were  commended  for 
trying  "them  who  call  themselves  apostles  and  they  are  not,"  and 
finding  them  false/  To  some  of  them  had  been  given  a  special 
gift  of  the  "discerning  of  spirits."*  To  them  all  had  been  given 
somewhat  of  this  spiritual  discernment :  "Let  the  prophets  speak 
by  two  or  three,  and  let  the  others  discern  (Sia/cptvo),  discrim- 
inate, judge). "^  The  Apostle  Paul  specifically  commends  the 
exercise  of  their  personal  judgment  with  reference  to  certain  of 
his  own  teachings  and  counsels.'  It  was  their  responsibility, 
which  they  could  not  blamelessly  lay  aside.  It  was  their  right, 
which  could  not  righteously  be  wrested  from  them. 

Thus,  then,  has  it  been  with  those  whom  God  has  sent  forth 
to  tell  in  living  speech  his  word  of  life,  in  the  successive  genera- 
tions of  the  Church.  They  are  also  the  sent  ones  of  Christ's 
people.  This  is  their  truest  ordination.  They  are  "tried,  ex- 
amined, and  admitted"  into  their  ministry,  either  directly  or 
through  representatives,  by  the  Christian  congregation. 

Their  official  ministrations,  let  it  ever  be  remembered,  are  not 
necessary  to  originate  a  church.  Only  the  presence  of  "the  Apos- 
tle and  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  even  Jesus,"  is  required 
or  sufficient  for  that.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  declared  condition 
where  the  words  "catholic  church"  appear  for  the  first  time  in 
Christian  literature :  "Wherever  Jesus  Christ  is,  there  is  the  cath- 
olic church  iv  xaOoXiKT]  iKKkrjaia),"''  It  is  true  now,  even  as  in  the 
beginning.  And  just  as  such  a  church,  true  and  therefore  cath- 
olic, is  authorized,  so  far  as  it  shares  in  the  mind  of  Christ,  to 
hold  the  power  of  the  "keys,"  so  likewise  is  it  authorized  to  ap- 
prove or  refuse  those  who  would  be  received  by  it  as  witness- 
bearers  and  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

(3)  It  is  ez'angelical.  The  all-inclusive  truth  with  which  it 
has  been  intrusted  is  the  good  news  of  Divine  redeeming  grace. 
Knowledge,  through  Him  who  could  say,  "He  that  hath  seen  me 


*i  Thess.  V.  21.  "Rev.  ii.  2.  °i  Cor.  xiv.  29. 

'i  John  iv.  I.  ^i  Cor.  xii.  10.         "i  Cor.  x.  15;  xi.  13. 

'Ignatius,  "To  the  Smyrnseans,"  8. 


Apostolic  Succession:  Unreal,  Real  313 

hath  seen  the  Father;"  peace,  through  the  blood  of  his  cross; 
love,  from  its  fountain  in  the  self-giving  of  God  since  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world;  life,  in  Him  who  died  for  us  and  rose 
again,  himself  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life:  these,  even  from 
apostolic  days,  have  been  its  distinct  and  distinctive  messages. 
In  the  twentieth  century,  as  in  the  first,  the  Christ  of  the  Cross 
— reconciliation  and  communion  with  God  in  him — is  its  theme. 

This  is  the  message  that  I  bring, 
A  message  angels  fain  would  sing: 
"Oh,  be  ye  reconciled,"  thus  saith  your  Lord  and  Kmg, 
"Oh,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

(4)  It  is  a  succession  in  spiritual  gifts.  Because  to  com- 
municate through  speech  to  the  assembled  congregation  this  liv- 
ing word  of  God,  calls  for  the  gift  of  preaching.  "And  having 
gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  was  given  to  us, 
whether  prophecy,  let  us  prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of 
our  faith.'"  Not  for  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  di- 
vinely ordained  though  they  are,  were  men  called  with  a  special 
calling  and  dowered  with  a  special  gift  in  the  apostolic  churches. 
But  there  has  been  such  a  gift  of  preaching,  from  the  days  of 
the  Apostles  and  their  fellow-ministers  until  now.  Therefore  it 
is  the  ofiice  of  a  preacher,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  according 
to  the  ability  that  God  gives  him,  to  speak  "to  the  people  all  the 
words  of  this  Life."  He  was  indeed  a  gospeler  who  wrote  out 
of  the  fullness  of  his  heart :  "Necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  for  woe 
is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel.  ...  I  have  a  stewardship 
intrusted  to  me."^  And  so  likewise  are  those  who  have  their  suc- 
cession from  him. 

(5)  It  is  apostolic.  The  name  is  true.  Because  it  connotes  not 
only  essentially  the  same  inner  vocation,  the  same  truth  of  redemp- 
tion, and  the  same  gift  of  preaching  that  came  to  the  Apostles  who 
saw  the  Lord,  but  also  essentially  the  same  spirit  of  love  and 
labor  that  was  in  them.  When  Francis  Asbury,  the  pioneer 
Protestant  bishop  of  the  New  World,  would  tell  upon  what  he 

'Rom.  xii.  6-8.  "i   Cor.  ix.  i6,  17. 


314  Christianity  as  Organised 

rested  his  authority  as  a  superintendent,  or  bishop,  in  the  Church, 
he  dared  to  say,  among  other  things :  "Because  the  signs  of  an 
apostle  have  been  seen  in  me."'  Probably  no  one  who  knew  his 
career  would  have  been  disposed  to  doubt  this  fact.  And  was  it 
not  the  best  possible  proof  of  a  truly  divine  authority  ?  To  brave 
all  dangers,  to  practice  all  self-denials,  to  spend  one's  strength 
from  youth  to  old  age  in  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the  word, 
to  care  through  long  years  for  the  widely  separated  churches, 
homeless  yet  happy,  as  poor  yet  making  many  rich,  till  one  is 
able  to  look  in  the  faces  of  fellow-Christians  in  many  regions 
and  say,  "The  seal  of  mine  apostleship  are  ye  in  the  Lord" — it 
is  this  spirit  of  love  and  labor,  rather  than  any  ordaining  hands, 
that  will  mark  one's  office  and  ministry  as  genuinely  apostolic. 

Moreover,  this  apostolic  succession,  evangelic  not  priestly, 
spiritual  not  legal,  catholic  not  exclusive,  scriptural  rather  than 
ecclesiastic,  proclaiming  the  complete  brotherhood  of  all  who 
trust  the  one  Christ  as  Lord  and  Saviour,  makes  not  for  division 
but  for  unity  in  the  Church  of  God. 


XIII. 

THE  BISHOP:  FROM  DIOCESAN  TO  POPE. 

The  propension  toward  external  catholic  unity  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  little  bishoprics  of  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
Might  it  not  find  a  common  center,  here  and  there,  about  which 
not  congregations  but  bishoprics  themselves  could  be  grouped? 
At  any  rate,  it  began  to  feel  its  way  toward  some  such  larger 
embodiment.  Much  more  naturally  than  the  deacons'  office 
called  for  an  archdeacon  and  the  presbyters'  office  for  an  arch- 
presbyter,  did  the  bishops'  office  call  for  an  archbishop. 

I.  Origin  of  the  Archbishop. 

In  response  to  such  a  demand,  the  provincial  councils  ren- 
dered an  important  service.  For  by  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century  these  councils  had  begun  to  be  held  with  some  degree 
of  frequency,  and  were  attended  by  all  the  bishops  of  a  province. 
Reasonably  enough  the  chief  city  of  a  province,  the  metropolis, 
was  the  chosen  place  of  meeting.  And  who  should  preside  over 
their  proceedings?  At  first  the  senior  bishop  of  those  in  attend- 
ance was  frequently  elected  president ;  but  afterwards  it  came  to 
be  the  custom  to  select  for  the  presidency  the  pastor  of  the 
church  in  which  the  council  met.  So  this  host  of  the  council, 
this  bishop  of  the  church  in  the  metropolis,  acquired  a  distinction 
among  his  fellow-bishops,  and  after  a  time,  developing  as  he  did 
into  the  metropolitan,  or  archbishop,'  became  a  distinct  center  of 
unity  for  the  province. 

For  example,   we  see  Cyprian,   bishop  of  Carthage,   calling 


^The  metropolitan  usually  went  by  the  name  of  archbishop,  but  the  title 
of  archbishop  was  given  also  to  the  patriarch  when  he  arose,  and  indeed  it 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  of  a  floating  title.  But  "the  distinction  be- 
tween an  archbishop  and  a  metropolitan  has  died  out,  and  no  difference  ex- 
cept that  which  is  nominal  exists  between  them."  (Blunt,  "Dictionary  of 
Doctrinal  and  Historical  Theology,"  Art.  "Archbishop.")  In  the  East  the 
name  now  regularly  used  is  metropolitan ;  in  the  West,  archbishop. 

(315) 


3i6  Christianity  as  Organised 

councils  of  all  the  bishops  of  the  province  to  decide  certain  grave 
questions  of  discipline.  This  he  did  in  virtue  of  his  metropolitan 
position.  To  preside  in  such  councils,  to  communicate  their  de- 
cisions to  the  presiding  bishops  of  other  provinces,  to  take  tlie 
leading  part  in  episcopal  ordinations,  to  act  as  arbiter  in  the  case 
of  a  contested  episcopal  election — these  were  the  metropolitan's 
other  principal  duties.  He  was  arch-h\shop.  And  thus  a  more 
general  superintendence  of  the  Church's  territory  was  effected. 

2.  Origin  of  the  Patriarchate. 

But  the  ideal  was  not  yet  attained :  the  process  of  centraliza- 
tion must  still  go  on.  Let  the  metropolitans,  in  their  turn,  be 
united  under  a  chief.  And  this,  like  the  previous  step,  was  fa- 
vored by  the  organization  of  the  civil  government.  For  under 
Constantine  the  Great  the  empire  had  been  laid  off  for  admin- 
istrative purposes  into  dioceses,  each  of  which  included  two  or 
more  provinces;  and  so  the  bishop  of  the  chief  city  of  one  of 
these  political  dioceses,  or  in  some  instances  of  two  or  more  dio- 
ceses combined,  claimed  a  position  of  oversight  with  respect  to 
his  fellow-metropolitans,  corresponding  in  a  general  way  to  that 
of  the  metropolitans  with  respect  to  the  bishops  over  whom  they 
presided.  He  became  what  might  have  been  called  an  "arch- 
metropolitan."  The  Council  of  Nice  (325)  recognized  this  de- 
velopment, and  decreed  that  the  "ancient  custom"  should  still 
be  observed — namely,  that  "the  bishop  of  Alexandria  have  rule 
over  all  these  [the  provinces  of  Egypt,  Libya,  and  Pentapolis], 
since  this  also  is  customary  with  the  bishop  of  Rome;  likewise 
also  at  Antioch  let  the  churches  retain  their  privileges."^ 

Now  the  territory  over  which  each  of  these  chief  metropolitans 
presided  was  called  in  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  in  political,  lan- 
guage a  diocese.  About  the  same  time  the  territory  of  an  or- 
dinary bishop,  which  had  hitherto  been  called  a  "parish,"  came 
to  be  known  in  the  West  as  a  diocese ;  and  perhaps  a  little  later 
the  same  name  was  given  to  the  territory  of  a  metropolitan,  or 

'Council  of  Nice,  can.  vi. 


Bishop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  z^^y 

archbishop.  So  at  this  time  there  were  no  fewer  than  three  ter- 
ritorial divisions  of  the  Church,  related  to  each  other  as  includ- 
ing and  included,  that  bore  the  name  "diocese."  Let  us  not  get 
them  confused  :  there  was  the  diocese  of  the  chief  metropolitan, 
that  of  the  metropolitan,  or  archbishop,  and  that  of  the  ordinary 
bishop,  or  as  he  came  to  be  called  the  suffragan  (assistant  to  the 
archbishop).  With  the  word  in  the  latter  two  senses — the  dio- 
cese of  the  archbishop  and  the  diocese  of  the  ordinary  bishop, 
or  suffragan — we  are  still  familiar. 

Now  the  chief  metropolitans  were,  after  a  time,  called  patri- 
archs— a  name  which  had  formerly  been  given  as  an  honorary 
title  to  bishops  in  general,  and  by  way  of  eminence  to  the  bishop 
of  Alexandria ;  and  their  dioceses  were  more  specifically  desig- 
nated as  patriarchates. 

Over  a  hundred  years  after  the  Nic?ean  Council,  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon  (451)  marked  the  completion  of  the  patriarchal 
system  by  recognizing  five  distinct  and  coordinate  patriarchates 
— namely,  Rome,  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  Antioch.  Jerusa- 
lem. Of  these,  however,  Jerusalem  was  more  honorary  than 
actual.' 

\\'hat  powers,  over  and  above  those  of  the  metropolitan,  was 
the  patriarch  permitted  to  exercise?  He  could  ordain  metropol- 
itans, convoke  and  preside  over  councils  of  his  patriarchate,  re- 
ceive appeals  from  metropolitan  councils  or  metropolitan  bish- 
ops, censure  metropolitan  bishops  and  in  some  cases  their  suf- 
fragans.    These  were  his  chief  functions.^ 

3.  Pre-eminence  of  the  Roman  Patriarch. 

And  now  as  to  the  relation  of  these  patriarchs  among  them- 
selves. Should  they  stand  exactly  coequal  in  office,  or  should 
one  of  them  take  a  position  of  presidency  and  leadership  toward 


^The  patriarch  of  Jerusalem  did  not  preside  over  a  whole  diocese — only 
over  Palestine  and  Arabia.  Nor  did  the  patriarch  of  Antioch  preside  over 
quite  the  whole  of  the  vast  diocese  of  fifteen  provinces  in  which  his  see  was 
situated. 

v\lzog,  "Universal  Church  History"  (E.  T.),  I.  668;  Blunt,  Diet.  His- 
torical and  Doctrinal  Theology,  Art.  "Archbishop." 


3i8  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  rest  ?  Should  there  be  an  orr/z-patriarch  ?  Here  again  the 
principle  of  external  unity  called  for  some  sort  of  episcopal 
primacy. 

Nor  was  there  any  reason  for  hesitation  as  to  who  the  chosen 
chief  should  be.  The  patriarch  of  Jerusalem?  No;  the  holy 
ancient  Jerusalem  was  no  more.  Its  site,  desecrated  by  pagan 
temples  and  statues  and  in  possession  of  a  pagan  colony,  had 
been  named  after  a  pagan  emperor's  family  and  a  god  of  Rome 
— ^lia  Capitolina.  Not  until  the  fourth  century  did  it  begin  to 
win  back  its  own  sacred  and  beautiful  name.  And.  what  was  in- 
finitel}^  worse,  Israel  as  a  race  had  rejected  Jesus  their  Messiah. 
They  were  not  Christians.  Accordingly,  as  we  ha^e  seen,  the 
patriarchate  of  Jerusalem  was  chiefly  nominal.  Then,  too,  Jeru- 
salem was  out  of  the  way,  not  central  to  the  Church  and  the 
Empire,  If  a  governmental  and  strategic  center  was  to  be 
chosen  for  the  Church,  it  could  not  be  in  the  far  Land  of 
Israel. 

Might  the  bishop  of  Ephesus,  then,  or  of  Corinth  or  of  Alex- 
andria be  made  universal  patriarch?  These  were  not  universal 
cities.  There  was  but  one.  Rome,  therefore,  had  no  serious 
rival.  It  had  already  given  its  name  to  the  Empire,  and  now 
was  to  cherish  the  dream  of  giving  it  in  like  manner  to  the 
Church. 

All  roads  led  to  Rome :  everybody  went  there.  Especially  did 
Christians  meet  together  there  from  all  countries.  For  Rome 
was  the  capital  of  the  Empire,  which  was  the  civilized  world. 
It  had  a  population  of  perhaps  two  and  a  half  millions,  but  that 
was  comparatively  a  small  matter:  it  was  ''tlie  great  city  which 
reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth,"  the  central  seat  of  the 
King-people,  the  world-city.  East  and  West,  men  had  long  been 
accustomed  to  look  toward  it  for  judgment,  authority,  law.  "I 
appeal  unto  Csesar,"  said  Paul  the  Jew  (though  also  a  freeborn 
Roman),  beset  by  his  enemies  in  Palestine.  "Unto  Caesar,"  re- 
plied the  procurator,  "shalt  thou  go." 

Now  let  us  remember  that  the  Church  had  been  laying  off  her 
territory  along  the  lines  of  the  imperial  administration — had  been 


Bishop:  From.  Diocesan  to  Pope  319 

doing"  so,  some  liave  thought,  from  apostolic  days/  But  more 
than  this :  in  tlie  fourth  century  Christianity  was  officially  recog- 
nized as  the  religion  of  the  Empire — which  meant  the  religion  of 
the  civilized  world  regarded  as  under  the  headship  of  Rome.  If, 
therefore,  the  bishop  of  such  a  city  as  Carthage,  for  example, 
might  claim  precedence  over  the  other  bishops  of  the  province, 
and  if  the  bishop  of  such  a  city  as  Alexandria  might  claim  prece- 
dence over  the  other  metropolitan  bishops  of  the  civil  diocese, 
so  likewise  might  the  bishop  of  such  a  city  as  Rome  claim  prece- 
dence over  the  other  chief  bishops  of  all  the  civil  dioceses,  and 
thus  become  patriarch  of  patriarchs. 

In  this  same  connection  it  might  be  remarked  that  the  patri- 
archal see  of  Antioch  was  held  in  higher  honor  than  that  of  Jeru- 
salem, the  see  of  Alexandria  than  that  of  :\ntioch,  and  the  see 
of  Constantinople,  or  New  Rome,  when  it  arose,  in  higher  honor 
than  that  of  any  of  the  other  three — each  greater  city  com- 
manding the  greater  honor  for  its  episcopal  see.  Why,  then, 
should  not  the  same  rule  apply  to  Old  Rome,  the  chief  city  of 
the  Empire  and  the  world? 

Indeed,  the  case  was  stronger.  For  the  church  in  Rome  was 
the  only  church  of  apostolic  origin  in  the  West ;  it  was  highly 
commended  in  the  great  inspired  Epistle  to  the  Romans,"  it  was 
sanctified  by  the  blood  of  martyrs — yes,  of  a  goodly  succession 
of  mart3TS.  Had  not  pagan  Rome  made  herself  "drunk  with  the 
blood  of  the  saints?"  Men  like  Ignatius  and  the  monk  Telem- 
achus  had  even  journeyed  from  the  far  East,  ''following  a 
hundred  sunsets,"  on  to  Rome,  there  to  lay  down  their  lives  for 
Christ.  Had  not  even  the  two  chief  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul, 
made  the  soil  of  the  great  Christian  city  sacred  with  their  wit- 
nessing blood  ? 

But  still  more,  the  Roman  see  had  been  founded,  according  to 
the  general  belief,  by  the  Apostle  Peter,  and  from  him  in  regular 
order  its  subsequent  bishops  were  supposed  to  have  descended. 
The  bishoj)  of  Rome,  then,  was  accepted  both  in  Rome  itself  and 
elsewhere  as  in  the  Petrine  succession.     But  Peter  held  the  high- 

'Rainsay,  "St    Paul  the  Tra\eler,"  pp    135,  136.  "Rom.  i.  8-12. 


320  Christianity  as  Organised 

est  place  among  the  original  Twelve.  Christ  had  said  to  him: 
"Thou  art  Peter;  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church." 
Was  it  not,  therefore,  more  than  fitting,  was  it  not  the  revealed 
will  of  Christ — so  it  began  to  be  asked  about  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century  or  sooner — that  Peter's  successor  in  the  see  of 
Rome  should  be  chief  bishop  to  the  whole  Church  ?  For  Peter's 
primacy,  it  was  assumed,  must  be  regarded  as  official  and  trans- 
missible, not  merely  personal. 

It  is  true,  this  belief  that  Peter  was  bishop  of  Rome — "for 
twenty-five  years,  one  month,  and  nine  days,"  the  legend  runs — 
and  that  he  started  a  line  of  successors  immediately  from  him- 
self, was  groundless.  So  far  from  ha\-ing  this  Apostle  for  its 
first  bishop  and  the  founder  of  an  episcopal  line,  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  church  in  Rome  had  no  bishop  at  all, 
except  the  presbyter-bishops,  till  the  second  quarter  of  the  second 
century.'  But  the  legend  of  Peter's  Chair  was  believed,  like  a 
thousand  others,  u])on  no  basis  of  historic  proof  and  without 
questioning.  And  it  produced  the  same  effect  upon  the  believer's 
mind  as  if  it  had  been  a  fact. 

Then,  too,  Rome  was  orthodox.  Comparatively  undisturbed 
by  theological  controversies^  which  raged  for  long  periods  of 
time  in  the  East,  Rome  uniformly  chose  the  side  that  proved  to  be 
dominant — as,  for  instance,  in  the  long  and  passionate  controver- 
sies that  arose  concerning  the  person  of  Christ  the  Saviour.  Ire- 
nseus  in  his  day  had  recommended  that  in  difficult  matters  of  con- 
troversy appeal  ought  to  be  made  to  "the  very  great,  the  very 
ancient,  and  universally  known  church  founded  and  organized  at 

^Clement,  writing  in  the  name  of  the  church  in  Rome  to  the  church  in 
Corinth,  is  silent  as  to  a  bishop  in  either  city.  Ignatius,  writing,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  second  century,  to  various  churches,  insists  on  obedience  to  the 
bishop — except  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans ;  and  here  he  not  only  delivers 
no  such  exhortation,  but  makes  no  mention  of  a  bishop  in  their  church  at  all. 
Hermas,  in  "The  Pastor,"  says,  "Those  who  preside  over  the  church  [in 
Rome]  ;"  and  again,  "The  old  woman  [the  Church]  asked  me,  if  I  had  yet 
given  the  book  to  the  presbyters.  .  .  .  But  you  will  read  the  words  in 
this  city,  along  with  the  presbyters  zvho  preside  over  the  church  [in  Rome]." 
(Vis.  ii.,  2,  4.)  "^^ 


Bishop:  from  Diocesan  to  Pope  321 

Rome  by  the  most  glorious  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul  ;"^  and  sub- 
sequent doctrinal  decisions  of  this  church,  made  through  its  bish- 
ops, served  to  increase  its  judicial  teaching  prestige  and  author- 
ity." For  Rome  taught  rather  than  investigated,  judged  rather 
than  debated,  commanded  rather  than  discussed. 

Yet  we  are  not  to  think  of  the  church  at  Rome  in  those  early 
days  as  simply  striving  after  authority  over  the  other  churches. 
Undoubtedly  she  did  that,  but  she  also  cared  for  them.  She  was 
kind  and  beneficent  toward  them.  There  is  proof  of  her  sending 
contributions  to  supply  the  needs  of  distant  congregations.  Ig- 
natius, in  the  Salutation  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Roman  Church, 
speaks  of  it  not  only  as  "the  church  which  presides  in  the  place 
of  the  region  of  the  Romans,"  but,  among  other  additional 
things,  as  the  church  which  "presides  over  love."  He  even  de- 
clares with  characteristic  fervor,  "I  am  afraid  of  your  love,  lest 
it  should  be  an  injury" — lest  it  should  incite  them  to  prayers  and 
efiforts  to  prevent  the  martyrdom  which  he  so  eagerly  coveted. 
In  this  most  eminent  and  probably  wealthiest  of  the  Christian 
communities,  there  was  something  of  the  spirit  of  "the  big  broth- 
er" toward  the  other  Christian  communities  throughout  the 
world.  Why  should  it  not  have  awakened  in  noble  minds  some 
responsive  spirit  of  gratitude  and  reverence?  Or  to  ignoble 
minds  this  same  wealth  and  beneficence  of  Rome  might  suggest 
as  a  motive  "the  thrift  that  follows  fawning." 

^"Against  Heresies,"  III.,  3,  2.  Irenseus's  reference  to  the  founding  of 
this  church,  it  will  be  noted,  is  contrary  to  the  facts  as  given  in  the  Epistle 
of  Paul  to  the  Romans.     See  especially  ch.  i.  13-15. 

^Not,  however,  that  this  rule  was  without  any  exception.  It  seems  certain, 
for  example,  that  the  Roman  bishop  Liberius  (352-361)  subscribed  a  semi- 
Arian  creed,  and  that  Honorius  I.  (621-636)  accepted  and  taught  the  Monoth- 
elite  heresj',  for  which  he  was  anathematized  by  the  Sixth  General  Coun- 
cil, and  at  the  same  time  by  the  pope,  Leo  II.,  who  not  only  signed  the  De- 
crees but  reneivcd  the  anathema  upon  the  heretical  pope — damaging  facts  to 
the  modern  decree  of  papal  infallibility.  Alzog  speaks,  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  view-point,  of  "the  imprudent  course  of  Pope  Honorius  in  the  case 
of  the  Monothelites,"  and  ventures  to  say  that,  "though  expressing  himself 
inaccurately,  he  thought  correctly."  ("Universal  Church  History,"  Vol.  I.,  pp. 
635,  636.)  But  the  apology 'is  made  in  the  face  of  sun-clear  facts. 
21 


322  Christianity  as  Organised 

By  such  considerations  as  tliese,  then,  the  idea  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical headship  at  Rome  would  be  strongly  commended.  Nor  does 
it  seem  to  have  met  with  any  marked  opposition.  The  Christian 
leaders,  both  theological  and  administrative,  were  ready  to  en- 
dorse it.^ 

Let  the  single  example  of  Cyprian  be  taken  as  representative 
here  of  the  early  centuries.  Strenuously  resisting  any  assump- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  Roman  see,  of  a  supremacy  of  jurisdic- 
tion, he  would  nevertheless  ascribe  to  it,  for  the  sake  of  unity 
and  in  accordance  with  what  were  accepted  by  him  as  scriptural 
and  historic  facts,  a  certain  primacy.  "That  he  might  set  forth 
unity,"  writes  the  illustrious  Carthaginian  pastor,  "he  arranged 
by  his  authority  the  origin  of  that  unity  as  beginning  from  one. 
Assuredly  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  were  the  same  as  was  Peter,  in- 
dorsed with  a  like  authority  both  of  honor  and  of  power ;  but  the 
beginning  proceeds  from  unity. "^  It  must  be  carefully  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that  the  primacy,  or  "beginning  from  unity," 
here  indicated,  is  strictly  one  of  honor  and  not  of  authority. 

Nor  was  it  only  individual  leaders  in  the  Church  that  acknowl- 
edged the  primacy  of  Rome.  The  General  Councils,  speaking 
with  supreme  authority,  did  the  same.  The  Council  of  Constan- 
tinople (381)  declared  that  the  bishop  of  Constantinople  should 
be  honored  next  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,'  and  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon  (451),  referring  to  this  action,  did  itself  "enact  and 
decree  the  same  things  concerning  the  privileges  of  the  most  holy 
Church  of  Constantinople,  which  is  New  Rome."* 

With  utter  silence  as  to  Roman  jurisdiction,  these  Councils  did 
have  a  word  to  say  for  Roman  primacy  of  honor. 


^Some  of  them,  outside  the  Roman  communion,  would  be  ready  to  in- 
dorse it  at  the  present  time:  "Though  we  would  grant  the  Church  of  Rome 
her  ancient  primacy,"  says  an  English  bishop,  "yet  we  cannot  accept  it  as  now 
offered,  transformed  into  a  quasi-sacramental  headship." 

^"On  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  4.    Cf.  Ep.  XXXIX.   (XLIL),  5. 

^"The  bishop  of  Constantinople,  however,  shall  have  the  prerogative  of 
honor  after  the  bishop  of  Rome ;  because  Constantinople  is  New  Rome." 
(Council  of  Constantinople,  Can.  III.) 

^Council  of  Chalcedon,  Can.  XXVIII. 


BisJiop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  323 

4.  The  Monarchical  Claim  of  1\ome. 

Here,  then,  emerges  what  might  be  looked  upon  as  a  completely 
organized  system  t)f  universal  government :  the  General  Council 
the  supreme  legislative  and  judicial  authority  (for  such  it  had 
come  to  be),  and  the  bishop  of  Rome  the  first  bishop  of  the 
Church.  Could  it  be  reasonably  objected  to  or  broken  up? 
Should  it  not  be  perpetuated  through  the  after  ages? 

However  such  a  question  may  be  answered,  it  is  certain  that 
the  system  was  not  perpetuated.  And  the  main  immediate  cause 
of  its  failure  w^as  the  monarchical  aggressions  of  Rome  itself. 
The  bishop  of  that  venerable  imperial  city  and  occupant  of  the 
so-called  chair  of  Peter  would  not  consent  to  be  first  among 
ecjuals  in  the  oligarchy  of  patriarchs.  He  must  have  supremacy 
of  jurisdiction,  ruling  alone,  the  visible  monarch  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ.  To  become  one  of  the  "five  towers,"  as  Dr.  Philip 
Schaff  has  called  the  Patriarchs,  "in  the  edifice  of  the  Catholic 
hierarchy  of  the  Graeco-Roman  Empire,''  would  have  seemed, 
according  to  his  conception,  to  be  fixing  himself  in  a  false  atti- 
tude. Not  a  tower,  he  was  the  one  rock  upon  which  the  Chris- 
tian Ecclesia  had  been  built.  Hence  the  Roman  bishop  refused 
to  be  called  patriarch,  as  a  mere  oligarchical  title,  and  in  due 
time  appropriated  the  monarchical  title  of  pope. 

Not,  of  course,  that  this  title — applied  preeminently  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome  about  the  year  500 — was  in  itself  monarchical. 
In  its  common  meaning  it  was  farther  from  monarchism  than 
was  the  title  "patriarch."  It  was  simply  the  child's  name  for 
"father"  (papa),  and  it  is  even  now  given  familiarly  to  all 
priests  in  the  Russian  Church — just  as  Roman  priests  also  are, 
more  seriously,  called  "father."* 

Does  "papa"  seem  a  humble  title  for  the  great  Roman  patri- 
arch, claiming  universality  of  dominion,  to  take?  So  also  was 
"emperor"  {imperator,  general,  commander-in-chief)  a  com- 
mit! the  West  it  had  been  applied  from  very  early  times  to  bishops,  and 
afterwards  to  patriarchs,  as  bishops  by  way  of  eminence,  first  fathers.  But 
"patriarch"  was  here  the  official  designation ;  and  on  this  account  the  bishop 
of  Rome  refused  to  share  it. 


324  Christianity  as  Organised 

paratively  humble  title  as  assumed  by  Augustus  Csesar;  but  it 
soon  disclosed  a  significance  above  that  of  "king."' 

The  development  of  the  papacy  was  intermittent  but  persistent. 
From  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  onward  the  Roman 
bishops  were  prone  to  put  forth  acts  or  pursue  courses  of  action 
that  implied  the  right  to  monarchical  rulership  in  the  whole 
Church.  Victor  I.,  about  the  year  196,  declared  the  Asian 
churches,  which,  against  his  judgment  and  will,  celebrated  the 
Easter  festival  on  the  day  of  the  Jewish  passover,  to  be  cut 
off  from  the  common  unity  of  the  Church — an  event  which  has 
been  described  as  marking  "the  true  birthday  of  the  papacy." 
Stephen  I.  (253-257)  acted  in  a  similar  manner  toward  the  North 
African  churches,  in  the  rebaptism  controversy.  Siricius,  in 
385.  issued  an  ordinance  of  clerical  celibacy,  which  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  known  as  the  first  papal  decretal.  Innocent  I. 
(402-417),  a  canonized  saint,  claimed  the  right  to  be  heard  in 
all  the  more  important  causes ;  and  it  was  the  pronouncement  of 
his  judgment  in  the  Pelagian  controversy  that  caused  Augustine, 
his  greatest  contemporary,  to  exclaim:  "Rome  has  spoken,  the 
cause  is  concluded."  Such  were  some  of  the  aggressive  acts  that 
foretokened,  during  a  period  of  two  and  a  half  centuries,  the 
coming  of  "the  first  pope,"  Leo  the  Great. 

5.  Leo  the  Great  as  Founder  of  the  Papacy. 

It  was  in  the  person  of  Leo  the  Great  (440-461)  that  the  full 
"papal  consciousness"  found  its  first  historic  expression.  Of  the 
circumstances  of  this  typical  churchman's  birth  and  death  noth- 
ing is  known.  The  outlines  of  his  public  career,  however,  have 
been  well  attested.  Leo,  though  by  no  means  of  a  philosophic 
temperament,  had  ability  as  a  systematic  theologian.  What  he 
saw  he  saw  clearly.  Untroubled  with  doubts  and  speculations, 
he  got  a  firm  grasp  upon  a  system  of  dogmatic  divinity.  He 
was  also  something  of  a  preacher — the  first  bishop  of  Rome,  so 
far  as  the  record  shows,  of  which  as  much  may  be  said. 

*For  an  interesting  explanation  of  the  significance  of  the  name  "pope," 
see  Stanley,  "Christian  Institutions,"  ch.  xi.,  sec.  4. 


Bishop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  325 

But  all  this  must  serve  as  a  background  for  Leo's  peculiar 
aptitude  for  administration.  He  knew  how  to  rule  with  a  com- 
manding", insistent,  successful  hand.  The  spirit,  as  described  in 
one  of  his  letters,  in  which  he  entered  upon  the  episcopal  office, 
was  indeed  most  distrustful  and  devout :  "For  what  is  so  un- 
wonted and  so  dismaying  as  labor  to  the  frail,  exaltation  to  the 
humble,  dignity  to  the  undeserving?  And  yet  we  do  not  despair 
nor  lose  heart,  because  we  put  our  trust  not  in  ourselves  but  in 
Him  who  works  in  us."  But  the  "labor"  which  Leo  believed  that 
even  one  so  "frail"  as  he  was  called  to  undergo  was  the  care  and 
rulership  of  the  universal  Church.  Personally  he  confessed  the 
deepest  unworthiness ;  officially  he  held  that  men  could  resist  his 
mandates  only  at  the  peril  of  their  souls.^ 

To  accept  an  honorable  primacy  was  not  in  the  least  of  this 
Roman  bishop's  thoughts.  He  cared  to  claim  nothing  less  than 
a  spiritual  dictatorship,  an  episcopal  Csesarism.  And  yet  of  per- 
sonal ambition  he  showed  no  sign. 

Indeed,  there  need  be  no  doubt  of  the  strength  and  sincerity 
of  Leo's  convictions,  nor  of  the  inflexible  resoluteness  with  which, 
through  a  pontificate  of  twenty-one  years,  he  gave  them  effect. 
This  "first  of  the  popes"  was  a  man  of  one  absorbing  idea,  which 
found  expression- in  one  intolerant  and  unrelenting  purpose.  His 
significance  in  the  development  of  the  papacy  has  been  likened  to 
that  of  Cyprian  in  the  development  of  the  sacerdotal  episcopacy. 
He  lived  that  he  might  make  Rome  what  he  supposed  she  was 
divinely  intended  to  become,  the  center  of  unity  and  authority 
for  the  Christian  world.  For  verily  he  believed  that  it  was -the 
very  wisdom  of  God  that  this  greatest  of  cities  should  have 
gained  and  maintained  her  vast  empire  for  the  express  purpose 
that,  when  Christianity  came,  she  might  have  the  facilities  and 
the  power  to  bestow  it  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  And  if 
so,  what  could  be  plainer  than  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  should 
preside  over  and  direct  the  Christian  world-movement? 

^"Yet  any  one  who  holds  that  the  headship  must  be  denied  to  Peter  cannot 
really  diminish  his  dignity,  but  is  puffed  up  with  the  breath  of  pride,  and 
plunges  himself  into  the  lowest  depth."     (Ep.  X.,  2.) 


3^6  Christianity  as  Organized 

•  As  to  the  course  of  action  by  which  Leo  sought  to  do  his  prov- 
idential part  in  the  achievement  of  this  stupendous  purpose,  four 
noteworthy  illustrations  may  be  mentioned :  ( i )  The  churches 
of  North  Africa,  which  had  enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  such 
eminent  teachers  as  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  and  Augustine,  were 
brought  under  his  control — for  there  was  no  Cyprian  now  to  re- 
sist his  encroachments.  He  demanded  that  the  decisions  of  their 
councils  be  sent  him  for  confirmation,  and  that  their  bishops 
should  have  the  right  of  appeal  from  the  court  of  their  metro- 
politans to  the  court  of  Rome.  This  right  of  appeal,  indeed,  he 
established  throughout  the  West  and  claimed  for  the  whole 
Church.  (2)  In  Gaul  a  bishop  had  been  deposed  by  a  council 
under  the  direction  of  Hilary  of  Aries,  the  primate'  of  the  Gal- 
ilean Church.  The  deposed  bishop  appealed  to  Rome,  and  was 
restored  to  his  office;  and  Hilary's  jurisdiction  was  restricted  to 
his  own  province.  (3)  Through  Leo's  influence,  as  may  be  be- 
lieved, the  feeble  Emperor  Valentinian  HL  issued  an  edict  de- 
claring the  primacy  of  Rome,  and  forbidding  "the  bishops  of 
Gaul,  as  well  as  those  of  other  provinces,'"  to  make  any  innova- 
tion on  the  established  order  in  their  churches  "without  the  au- 
thority of  the  venerable  Father  of  the  Eternal  City."  (4)  The 
Council  of  Chalcedon  was  presided  over  by  Leo,  in  the  person 
of  his  legates,  and  its  decision  of  the  great  Christological  con- 
troversy was,  in  a  very  appreciable  measure,  determined  by  a 
letter  from  his  hand  to  Flavian,  bishop  of  Constantinople. . 
"Peter  has  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  Leo,"  shouted  the  Council  on 
the  reading  of  this  letter.  And  the  canons  of  the  Council  were 
sent  him  for  confirmation. 

To  Leo  the  Great,  more  than  to  any  other  one  man — if  it  be 
not  idle  to  draw  such  comparisons — the  Church  of  Rome  is  in- 
debted for  her  ecclesiastical  dominion  through  the  Middle  Ages 
and  unto  the  twentieth  century. 

^"Primates  .  .  .  are  constituted  by  the  Church  with  the  consent  of  the 
State,  such  as  the  primate  of  Germany  (Nuremberg),  of  Spain  (Toledo),  of 
France  (Lyons),  ...  of  England  (Canterbury  and  York).  ...  A 
primate  presides  over  the  ecclesiastical  capital  of  a  country,  and  properly  is 


Bishop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  Z'^7 

6.  The  Papal  Compared  with  the  Cyprianic  Claim. 

And  now  before  passing-  from  this  topic  let  us  give  a  moment's 
distinct  attention  to  the  ground  on  which  the  assertion  of  Roman 
ecclesiastic  supremacy,  thus  fully  developed,  rested.  It  was 
closely  similar  to  the  ground  on  which  the  claim  of  monarchic 
episcopacy  rested.  The  Church,  said  Cyprian  two  hundred  years 
before — speaking  for  himself  and  the  High  Churchmen  of  all 
ages — is  in  the  bishops;  for  only  through  them  the  grace  of  God 
is  sacramentally  mediated  to  the  people.  No  bishops,  no  Church. 
But  Leo.  speaking  for  himself  and  the  papists  of  all  ages,  de- 
clared that  the  Church  is  in  the  pope.  For  Peter  alone  received 
ministerial  power  immediately  from  Christ  and  mediated  it  to 
the  line  of  his  successors,  the  bishops  of  Rome.  No  pope,  no 
Church.'  The  essential  difference,  therefore,  between  the  High 
Church  and  the  papal  dogma  is.  that  the  one  finds  an  indis- 
pensable succession  of  coequal  bishops  from  the  whole  body  of 
Apostles,  while  the  other  finds  an  indispensable  succession  of 
universal  bishops  from  the  chief  of  the  x\postles. 

But  again,  are  we  to  suppose  that  these  repeated  aggressions 
of  Rome  were  quietly  acquiesced  in  by  the  churchmen  of  those 
early  days?  On  the  contrary,  they  were  strenuously  resisted — 
in  the  East  never  really  submitted  to.  Said  Polycrates,  the  ven- 
erable bishop  of  Ephesus,  in  answer  to  the  edict  of  Victor  I.  in 
the  Easter  controversy:  "I  am  not  affrighted  by  terrifying  words, 
for  those  greater  than  I  have  said.  'We  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  man.'  '""  Said  the  first  great  Latin  father.  Tertullian.  con- 
cerning the  same  violent  edict :  "O  edict,  on  which  cannot  be  in- 

th-i  superior  of  many  archbishops."  (Bhmt,  Diet,  of  Historical  and  Doc- 
trinal Theology,  Art.  "Archbishop.'") 

'^"But  this  mysterious  function  [the  spreading  of  Christian  truth  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world]  the  Lord  wished  indeed  to  be  the  concern  of  all 
the  Apostles,  but  in  such  a  way  that  he  has  placed  the  principal  charge  on 
the  blessed  Peter,  chief  of  all  the  Apostles ;  and  from  him  as  from  the  Head 
wishes  his  gifts  to  flow  to  all  the  body;  so  that  any  one  who  dares  to  secede 
from  Peter's  solid  rock  may  understand  that  he  has  no  part  nor  lot  in  the 
divine  mystery."     (Leo,  Ep.  X.  i.) 

"Eusebius,  H.  E.,  V.  xxiv.  7. 


328  Christianity  as  Organised 

scribed,  'Good  deed.'  ""  But  again  let  us  take  Cyprian  as  the 
most  significant  example.  When  the  bishop  of  Rome,  Stephen 
I.,  endeavored  to  enforce  his  decision  of  the  question  of  re- 
baptism  upon  the  churches  of  North  Africa,  Cyprian,  from  his 
metropolitan  position  among  them,  opposed  Stephen  with  all  the 
powers  at  his  command.  At  one  of  the  North  African  councils 
called  by  him  to  consider  the  matter,  Cyprian,  with  his  colleagues, 
wrote  a  letter  to  Stephen — addressing  him  as  an  equal  only, 
"dearest  brother" — in  which  they  reminded  him,  with  mingled 
kindly  respect  and  firmness  of  judgment,  that  "each  prelate  has 
in  the  administration  of  the  Church  his  will  free,  as  he  shall  give 
account  of  himself  to  the  Lord."^  Not  to  a  bishop  of  bishops — 
"for  no  one  of  us  sets  himself  up  as  a  bishop  of  bishops,  or  by 
tyrannical  terror  forces  his  colleagues  to  obeying"— but  to  the 
Lord  only  was  any  bishop,  prominent  or  obscure,  in  city  or 
hamlet,  to  give  account  of  his  official  administration. 

But  in  the  West  such  protests  availed  very  little — ultimately 
nothing  at  all.  For  the  bishops  had  already  prepared  the  way, 
unconsciously — and  none  had  done  it  more  effectually  than  the 
illustrious  bishop  of  Carthage  himself — for  these  very  usurpa- 
tions of  the  Roman  see.  When  they  said,  "The  bishops  are  ec- 
clesiastical monarchs,  they  are  the  Church's  bond  of  unity,  they 
are  its  head,"  it  was  inevitable  that  the  ambitious  organizing 
genius  of  Rome  should  answer:  "Thcyf  Why,  there  can  be 
no  common  headship  in  numerous  independent  monarchs,  here 
and  there.  That  would  be  intolerable.  The  head  must  be  one, 
and  who  can  that  one  be  but  the  bishop  of  Rome,  who  is  already 
accepted  by  you  all  as  the  successor  of  Peter,  the  primate  of  the 
original  Apostles  of  the  Lord  Christ?  There  can  be  no  headship 
but  in  him."  And  as  to  the  bishops,  they  were  only  realizing 
practically  the  logic  of  their  own  autocratic  position.' 

'"On  Modesty,"  i.  "Cyprian,  Ep.  LXXI.  (LXXIL),  3. 

■""The  yielding  of  the  High-church  theory  and  practice  to  the  papal,  over 
so  large  a  part  of  the  Church's  territory,  finds  an  analogue  in  the  political 
sphere  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Western  Medieval  Europe,  a  feudal  system 


Bishop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  329 

7.  The  Papacy  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

It  is  unnecessary  in  this  outline  study  to  follow  the  course  of 
the  papacy  through  the  Middle  Ages.  In  fact,  there  was  no  es- 
sential departure,  at  least  in  the  strictly  ecclesiastical  sphere,  from 
the  lines  of  procedure  that  Leo  and  his  successors  had  marked 
out.  Not  even  his  ablest  and  most  influential  successor  for  the 
next  six  hundred  years — namely,  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604),' 
father  of  the  medieval  papacy,  advanced  any  additional  claim. 
On  the  contrary,  Gregory  seemed  less  inclined  than  Leo  tO'  assert 
the  monarchic  idea.  He  severely  rebuked  John  the  Faster,  bish- 
op of  Constantinople,  for  styling  himself  "Universal  Patriarch." 
He  calls  the  claim,  whoever  may  make  it,  "blasphemous,"  aiid 
declares  that  "no  one  has  ever  before  used  such  a  phrase  or 
taken  so  daring  an  appellation."  As  for  himself,  refusing  a  su- 
preme lordly  title,  he  professes  to  be  content  that  he  should  be 
called  "servant  of  the  servants  of  God" — a  title  which  successive 
popes  have  borne  e^'er  since. 

For  as  to  the  particular  title  of  Universal  Patriarch,  the  pope 
does  not  now  and  never  did  assume  it.  He  only  claims  to  be 
Patriarch  of  the  West — but  Universal  Pontiff,  Teacher,  Judge, 
and  Lord.  The  most  moderate  interpretation  I  have  seen  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  "triple  crown"  is,  that  it  denotes  supreme  ec- 
clesiastical lordship  over  the  diocese  of  Rome,  the  patriarchate 
of  the  West,  and  the  zvholc  world. 

Gregory  was  worthy  of  his  posthumous  title.  He  was  "great," 
not  indeed  intellectually,  but  in  moral  energy  and  goodness  of 
character — both  just  and  humane,  both  devout  and  diligent,  pure 

is  made  to  give  way  to  a  strong  monarchical  form  of  centralization.  The 
principle  involved  in  the  two  cases  is  the  same — namely,  the  time-honored 
principle  that  in  unity  there  is  strength.  The  fundamental  false  principle  is 
likewise  the  same — divine  right.  The  possibilities  of  abuse,  and  of  evil  con- 
sequence also,  are  of  the  same  general  nature,  only  in  the  ecclesiastical 
sphere  even  more  serious. 

'The  only  pope  comparable  to  Gregory  during  this  period  was  Nicolas  I. 
(858-867) — an  able  and  energetic  administrator,  using  his  office  for  the  pro- 
motion of  righteousness,  "terrible  to  the  evil-doer,  whether  prince  or  priest, 
yet  mild  to  the  good  and  obedient." 


SS^  Christianity  as  Organised 

in  life,  missionary  in  spirit.  "The  last  of  the  Fathers,"  he  has 
been  called,  l)ecause  of  his  somewhat  voluminous  writings  on 
moral  and  religious  themes. 

His  errors  were  the  errors  of  an  unenlightened  age,  and  the 
one  foul  blot  on  his  record  may  be  partly  explained,  though  not 
excused,  by  his  superstitious  devotion  to  Rome  as  identical  with 
the  cause  of  Christ  on  earth.  His  moral  indignation,  therefore, 
at  pride  of  office  was  doubtless  genuine,  and  not  a  mere  effer- 
vescence of  jealousy  toward  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
But  as  to  the  idea  of  papal  prerogatives,  he  was  at  one  widi  his 
most  imperious  predecessors,  Leo  and  the  rest.  He  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  claim  that  the  see  of  Rome  was  divinely  appointed  to  rule 
over  the  see  of  Constantinople,  and  all  the  others.  "I  know  not 
what  bishop  is  not  subject  to  it,"  he  wrote  in  one  of  his  letters, 
"if  fault  is  found  in  him."  The  pope,  he  held,  inherited  the 
office  of  Peter,  to  whom  "was  committed  by  our  Lord  the  care 
of  the  whole  Church."  In  such  a  case  the  refusal  to  be  called 
a  universal  father  to  the  Church  would  hardly  seem  to  be  a 
healthful  refinement  of  the  spirit  of  humility.  Indeed,  Gregory 
might  have  consented  to  be  called  at  the  same  time  both  father 
and  servant ;  for  where  may  a  truer  example  of  servanthood  be 
found  than  in  the  relation  of  the  father  and  mother  to  the  child  ? 

Besides,  this  humble  choice  of  a  title  for  the  papacy  must  not 
be  taken  too  seriously,  because  it  is  quite  possible  for  true  great- 
ness, whether  in  monk  or  in  bishop  (and  Gregory  was  both),  to 
be  marred  by  an  affectation  of  humility.  There  is  often  so  wide 
a  difference  between  sound  and  sense,  between  the  look  of  a  thing 
and  the  thing  itself.  It  may  sound  like  a  humble  word  when 
the  pope  speaks  of  his  throne  as  the  chair  of  the  fisherman,  or 
look  like  a  humble  act  when  he  washes  the  beggars'  feet  in  Holy 
Week,  or  seem  like  a  humble  subscription  when  a  gentleman 
signs  himself  the  "obedient  servant"  of  his  correspondent ;  but 
for  an  example  of  real  humility  one  would  be  instinctively  in- 
clined to  look  otherwhere.^ 

^"Gregory  the  Great,"  says  a  Roman  Catholic  historian,  "desirous  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  such  contentions,  set  an  example  of  humility,  and  called  him- 


Bishop:  From  Diocesan  to  Pope  331 

The  simple  truth  is,  that  not  only  John  the  Faster  and  Gregory 
the  Great  but  the  bishops  of  Constantinople  and  the  bishops  of 
Rome,  generally  speaking,  in  those  formative  centuries,  illustrate 
a  state  of  things  of  which  the  classic  example  is  that  of  Pompey 
and  C?esar.  The  Constantinopolitans  could  bear  no  superior,  the 
Romans  no  equal. 

8.  A  Reversal  of  the  Order  of  Historic  Facts. 

The  papal  claim  offers  a  colossal  example  of  reversal  in  the 
order  of  historic  facts.  The  local  congregation,  the  presbyters, 
the  bishop,  the  pope — such  is  the  succession  in  the  chief  govern- 
ing- officers  of  the  Church,  according  to  the  witness  of  history. 
Tlie  pope  preceding  all,  with  bishops  and  presbyters  created  by 
him.  and  the  congregation  left  with  no  right  or  power  of  gov- 
ernment whatever — such  is  the  teaching  of  Rome.  The  history 
is  indeed  read  backwards. 

Shall  we  then  denounce  the  makers  of  the  papacy  as  evil- 
minded  usurpers,  shamelessly  denying  indisputable  facts,  deliber- 
ately "speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,"  and  ruthlessly  trampling  upon 
the  God-given  rights  of  Christ's  people,  on  the  way  to  their  cov- 
eted throne?  It  would  be  a  narrow  and  uncharitable  judg- 
ment. 

Aggressors,  usurpers  they  undoubtedly  were.  The  bishops  of 
Rome  had  no  more  right  to  subject  the  whole  world  to  their 
official  control,  by  appeals  to  the  Christian  conscience  and  the 
free  use  of  supernatural  terrors,  than  had  the  emperors  of  Rome 
to  reduce  the  whole  world  to  submission  by  the  less  deeply  pier- 
cing weapon  of  the  sword.  But  we  may  not  meet  these  early 
bishops  of  the  Eternal  City,  in  criticism  or  argument,  with  any 
sweeping  denial  of  sincerity  of  belief  and  purpose.     If  John 

self  'the  servant  of  the  servants  of  God'  (servus  scrvorum  Dei),  which  has 
always  been  retained  by  his  successors,  who  in  this  follow  the  counsel  of 
Christ :  'He  that  is  greater  among  you,  let  him  become  servant  of  all.' " 
(Alzog.  "Universal  Church  History,"  I.,  675.)  But  the  counsel  of  the  Master 
is  that  the  greater  should  "become"  servant  of  all,  between  which  and  "calling 
himself"  servant  of  all.  the  difference  is  wide  indeed.  And  is  there  any 
worse  pride  than  "proud  humility?" 


332  Christianity  as  Organized 

Knox  or  John  Wesley,  with  his  unquestioned  purity  of  character, 
liad  been  placed  in  the  position  and  surroundings  of  Leo  or 
Gregory,  it  is  by  no  means  insupposable  that  he  would  have  at- 
tempted similar  things  in  government  to  those  which  these  un- 
relenting prelates  undertook ;  and  would  have  made  the  attempt 
not  for  his  own  exaltation,  but  for  the  guardianship  of  the  faith 
and  the  advancement  of  the  Church/ 

Ecclesiastic  sincerity  does  not  imply  even  ordinary  exegetic 
gifts.  On  occasion  its  interpretations  of  Scripture  may  no  more 
set  forth  the  teaching  of  the  passage  than  the  magician's  rib- 
bons, flags,  and  fluttering  birds  set  forth  the  contents  of  the  be- 
wildered spectator's  pocket  in  wliich  he  pretends  to  find  them.  It 
may  easily  accept  legend  as  history,  when  legend  seems  to  be 
promotive  of  the  Church's  welfare.  It  may  sometimes  be  found 
as  the  mate  of  the  very  audacity  of  ignorance.  In  conjunction 
with  fanaticism  it  is  likely  to  tear  and  slay  as  the  most  cruel  of 
plagues  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

Moreover,  sincerity  exists,  like  all  other  virtues,  in  different 
degrees  of  perfection.  It  may  silently  crown  a  whole  life  with 
splendor,  or,  again,  it  may  be,  like  Jacob  in  the  prophet's  vision, 
with  difficulty  able  to  stand^  "because  it  is  small,''  But  it  is  ab- 
solutely essential  to  moral  or  Christian  manhood,  and  will  not 
be  lightly  denied  even  to  extreme  errorists  by  the  enlightened  and 
generous  mind.  Were  not  John  Henry  Newman  and  other  lead- 
ers of  the  Tractarian  Movement  "men  of  heart  sincere?"  Throw- 
ing up  indefensible  breastworks  of  papal  authority  against  the 
action  of  that  universal  and  God-given  reason  which  they  dread- 
ed as  a  deadly  foe  to  even  theistic  faith — were  they  not  following 
conscience?  "I  verily  thought  with  myself  that  I  ought  to  do 
many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 

^"If  I  had  known  St.  Francis,  I  hope  I  should  have  had  grace  enough  to 
become  a  Fi-anciscan  friar  and  to  serve  the  Lady  Poverty.  If  destiny  had  put 
me  on  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  I  hope  I  should  have  made  a  good  fight  against 
the  encroachments  of  the  secular  power  on  the  sacred  heritage  of  Christ  and 
the  vicar  of  Christ.  But  being  a  twentieth-century  Christian,  I  hope  I  shall 
do  nothing  of  the  kind."  ( Rauschenbusch,  "Christianity  and  the  Social 
Crisis,"  p.  201.) 


XIV. 
THE  BISHOP:  THE  PAPACY. 

The  monarchical  papacy  succeeded  in  becoming  Roman  Cath- 
olic, but  nothing  more.  Catholic  it  has  never  been.  For  while 
no  one,  at  least  in  the  earlier  centuries,  may  have  cared  to  dispute 
the  idea  of  a  Roman  primacy,  there  have  always  been  many  to 
ignore  or  reject  the  idea  of  a  Roman  constitutional  supremacy. 

\\'e  liave  noted  the  antagonism  of  individual  bishops  and  of 
particular  churches  to  such  an  idea.  But  more  significant  still 
was  the  legislation  of  the  General  Councils.  These  Councils,  coii- 
vened  not  by  the  pope  but  by  the  emperor,  knew  nothing  whatever 
of  a  supreme  teacher,  ruler,  and  judge  of  Christendom.  As  we 
have  seen,  they  do  ascribe  to  the  Roman  patriarch  a  precedence 
of  lionor,  because  of  the  glory  of  ancient  Rome,  and  to  the  pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople  the  next  honorable  place,  because  of 
the  glory  of  New  Rome ;  but  to  neither  do  they  ascribe  any  right 
of  dictation  or  jurisdiction.  In  a  word,  the  general  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  sanctioned  by  the  General  Councils  distinctly 
excluded  monarchy  of  any  sort. 

This  non-papal  conciliar  legislation  would  seem  to  be  con- 
clusive as  to  the  mind  of  the  Church. 

I.  Constantinople's  Position. 

It  was  in  harmony  Avith  such  legislation  that  papal  monarchism 
was  rejected,  both  early  and  late,  by  the  Christianity  of  the 
East.  The  see  of  Rome  was  left  to  hear  whatever  appeals  might 
be  brought  before  it,  to  exert  whatever  influence  it  could  through- 
out Christendom,  and  to  gather  the  whole  West  under  its  gov- 
ernmental authority ;  and  all  this  it  did,  but  nothing  more. 

In  the  East.  Constantinople  took  the  place  of  honor  assigned  it 
with  reference  to  the  other  three  patriarchates. 

(333) 


334  Christianity  as  Organised 

At  first,  liowever,  there  was  some  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
older  patriarchates  of  Alexandria  and  .\ntioch  to  this  arrange- 
ment. The  church  in  Alexandria  was  founded,  according  to  tra- 
dition, by  the  evangelist  Mark,  and  Antioch  was  the  first  see  of 
the  apostle  Peter  himself ;  but  when  and  by  whom  was  the  church 
in  Constantinople  (Byzantium)  founded?  Alexandria — whose 
patriarch  was  called,  because  of  his  pretensions  and  of  his  real 
power,  "the  ecclesiastical  Pharaoh" — showed  great  jealousy, 
especially  during  the  episcopate  of  the  hot-headed  Cyril,  of  the 
rising  power  of  the  new  patriarchal  see.  But  the  dissatisfaction 
subsided ;  for  was  not  Constantinople  the  capital  of  the  East, 
even  as  Rome  was  the  capital  of  the  West?  Moreover,  was  she 
not  distinctively  Christian  Rome,  founded  by  the  Christian  Em- 
peror, and  unstained  from  the  first  by  the  sin  of  idolatry?  Let 
her  rest  without  disturbance,  cheerfully  acknowledged,  in  her 
primacy  not  of  constitutional  prerogative  but  of  honorable  dis- 
tinction. 

Already,  therefore,  the  Catholic  Church  is  virtually  broken  in 
twain.  Two  great  ecclesiastical  centers  have  established  them- 
selves, one  on  the  Tiber,  the  other  on  the  Bosphorus — though  the 
formal  and  final  separation  awaits  the  lapse  of  some  centuries. 
For  it  is  not  until  July  i6,  1054,  that  the  papal  legates,  standing 
in  the  great  church  of  St.  Sophia,  lay  upon  its  altar,  from  the 
hand  of  the  pope,  the  fearful  anathema  of  Rome:  "Let  them  be 
Anathema  Maranatha,  with  Simoniacs,  Valerians,  Arians,  Do- 
natists,  Nicolaitans,  Severians,  Pneumatomachi,  Manichees,  and 
Nazarenes,  and  with  all  heretics;  yea,  with  the  devil  and  his 
angels.     Amen.     Amen.     Amen," 

2.  Establishment  of  the  Papal  Claim  in  the  West. 

Papal  Rome,  like  her  pagan  predecessor,  had  the  spirit  and 
the  gift  of  government.^     Not  of  thought,  not  of  original  re- 

^We  see  a  significant  foretoken  of  this  even  in  the  last  decade  of  the  first 
century.  Clement  writes  a  letter  from  Rome,  and  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
Roman  Church — "the  Church  of  God  which  sojourns  at  Rome" — to  try  by 
good  counsel  and  admonition  to  quiet  a  state  of  disorder  which  exists  in 


Bishop:  The  Papacy 


oo:) 


search.  This  was  the  genius  of  Greece.  It  was  the  subtle  think- 
ers of  the  East  who  took  the  lead  in  theology.  They  chiefly  were 
influential  in  framing  the  early  Christian  creeds.  The  imprint 
that  Christian  doctrine  received  from  the  Latin  theologians — as, 
for  instance,  from  Tertullian  and  Augustine — was  legal  rather 
than  spiritual,  and  practical  rather  than  speculative.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  Greek  mind  tended  to  dwell  upon  the  Divine  Na- 
ture, the  Latin  mind  upon  the  nature,  salvation,  and  conduct  of 
man;  the  Greeks  would  find  God,  the  Latins  would  govern  men. 
The  Greek,  given  to  the  prolonged  exercise  of  reason,  meditated; 
the  Roman,  putting  forth  his  will,  acted.  It  had  been  so  from 
the  beginning.  When  Rome  flung  forth  her  armies  to  reduce 
the  world  to  her  will, 

The  East  bowed  low  beneath  the  blast 

In  patient,  deep  disdain ; 
She  let  the  legions  thunder  past,  • 

And  plunged  in  thought  again. 

So  the  popes  that  rose  into  any  kind  of  greatness — most  of 
them  do  not  seem  to  have  risen  above  mediocrity — showed  them- 
selves great  as  ecclesiastics,  organizers,  administrators.  Through 
them  the  doomed  Imperial  City  was  rehabilitating  itself  in  the 
ecclesiastical  realm.  It  was  from  Greece  that  Rome  had  re- 
ceived her  philosophy,  but  it  was  of  herself  that  she  felt  the  con- 
sciousness of  power,  the  instinct  of  conquest  and  government. 
Never  before  had  it  taken  place,  but  in  one  instance  it  did  take 
place,  that  a  single  city,  even  pagan  Rome,  should  rule  the  world. 
And  it  was  now  a  similar  course  of  conquest  and  despotic  rule, 
and  with  a  similar  consciousness  of  power,  in  the  sphere  of  the 
soul,  upon  which  papal  Rome  was  entering. 

Nor  was  the  opportunity  lacking.'  The  age  of  martyrdom  had 
passed;  the  less  glorious  age  of  controversy  which  followed  it 

the  Church  of  God  in  Corinth.  His  epistle  consists  chiefly  of  brotherly  ex- 
hortation, but  not  without  some  tone  of  authority :  "Ye  therefore  who  laid 
the  foundations  of  this  sedition,  submit  yourselves  to  the  presbyters,  so  as  to 
repent,  bending  the  knees  of  the  heart."     (Ch.  57.) 

^It  is  not  unworthy  of  remark  that,  with  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  one  great  negative  condition  to  papal 


33^  Christianity  as  Organised 

was  also  spending  its  force;  the  orthodox  faith  had  been  form- 
ulated and  was  regnant;  and  a  new  world  just  beginning  to  be 
Christianized  lay  before  the  chair  of  Peter.  Already  the  East 
had  begun  to  stagnate.  Its  civilizations  were  decadent;  its  fee- 
ble church-life,  slavishly  subservient  to  the  civil  power,  would 
soon  be  crushed  beneath  the  iron  hoof  of  Islam.  The  four  pa- 
triarchs were  there,  each  with  his  territory  delimited,  and  no 
hopeful  outlook  beyond.  But  the  patriarchs  of  Rome  oversaw 
the  whole  West ;'  and  the  West  held  the  promise  of  the  future. 
It  was  yet  to  be  won ;  rather  it  was  yet  to  be  made.  There  was 
virgin  soil,  wild  but  rich  and  deep.  There  was  the  "wandering 
of  the  nations" — an  irrepressible  ethnic  energy  all  uncultured  and 
undirected.  There  were  the  German,  the  French,  the  English 
races  in  the  making. 

The  Western  Empire  was  falling  to  pieces,  ^^'e  must  think 
o?  it  now  as  the  South,  and  of  destruction  as  coming  out  of  the 
North.  Men  had  been  fain  to  look  upon  Rome  as  the  Eternal 
City.  Let  her  be  destroyed,  and — there  was  nothing  more.  As 
the  ancient  geographers  made  the  ocean  that  lay  beyond  the  line 
of  up-to-date  discovery  the  abode  of  all  manner  of  doleful  and 
destructive  creatures,  not  to  be  intruded  upon  or  even  thought 
of,  so  the  minds  of  men  in  that  olden  time,  through  centuries, 
refused  to  contemplate  any  sequel  to  the  destruction  of  Rome. 
Such  an  event,  if  a  possibility,  must  mean  barbarism,  ruin,  the 

success  was  furnished.  For  the  pope  could  carry  out  his  own  imperial  pur- 
poses with  a  much  freer  hand  when  unembarrassed  by  the  throne  of  the 
emperor  beside  his  own.  "Catholic  writers  are  fond  of  considering  the  neg- 
lect in  which  the  emperors  left  the  Eternal  City  and  the  fall  of  the  Eastern 
Empire  as  providential  dispensations :  they  are  right.  Had  the  emperors  re- 
mained in  Rome  or  the  popes  followed  them  to  Byzance,  the  papacy  had  never 
been  what  it  became.  A  pope  face  to  face  with  an  autocrat  is  an  anomaly 
hardly  to  be  conceived."  (Leroy-Beaulieu,  "The  Empire  of  the  Tsars  and 
the  Russians,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  146.) 

^"The  Council  of  Nic£ea  had  indeed  defined  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  but  later  councils  which  had  gone  on  perfecting  the  ecclesiastical 
organization  in  the  East  paid  little  attention  to  the  West,  or,  so  far  as 
they  had  legislated  at  all,  had  inclined  to  recognize  a  certain  vague  suprem- 
acy of  the  bishop  of  Rome  over  the  entire  West."  (Allen,  "Christian  In- 
stitutions," p.   146,) 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  337 

end  of  the  world/  True,  it  was  an  e\ent  that  had  been  predicted 
in  tlie  New  Testament.  "Fallen,  fallen  is  Babylon  the  great,"' 
cried  the  "second  angel"  in  the  Apocalypse/  But  if  a  Christian 
reader  here  and  there  recognized  under  the  name  Babylon  the 
corrupt  and  cruel  city  of  Pagan  Rome,  doubtless  he  saw  in  its 
fall  one  of  the  fearful  signs  that  the  end  of  all  things  was  in- 
deed at  hand. 

Yet  when  that  which  was  regarded  as  either  impossible  or  a 
part  of  the  final  catastrophe  came  to  pass,  a  new  and  creative 
Fact  appeared.  When  the  spell  that  Rome  had  cast  upon  the 
minds  of  men,  the  hush  of  reverent  awe  that  attended  the  men- 
tion of  her  name,  even  in  the  fierce  forests  of  the  North,  was 
broken  up,  there  stood  forth  another  Rome  to  command  a  deeper 
reverence  and  to  kindle  a  more  controlling  terror  in  the  soul. 
In  the  place  of  the  city  of  the  C?esars  rose  the  City  of  God. 
Just  outside  the  walls  of  Rome,  Attila  the  Hun,  leading  his  in- 
numerable horde  of  savages,  greedy  and  relentless  as  the  grave, 
met  Leo  the  Churchman — and  turned  away.  There  was  no  em- 
peror worthy  of  the  name  to  meet — a  few  years,  and  there  was 
not  even  a  nominal  emperor.  The  bishop  whom  he  did  meet  was 
the  real  ruler  of  Rome,  and  the  prototype  of  the  real  rulers, 
through  many  generations,  of  the  Western  world.  If  the  papacy 
be  called  "Rome's  ghost  since  her  decease,"  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged as  a  ghost  more  powerful  and  more  long-lived  than  the 
original  flesh-and-blood  Rome  herself.  Or  if,  as  again  it  has 
been  said.  "Rome  no  longer  held  the  world  by  arms,  but  by 
men's  imaginations,"  it  was  a  grip  upon  their  imaginations  more 
effective  by  far  than  the  stroke  of  the  sword  that  drank  their 
blood. 

The  barbarians  were  religious.  They  cherished  the  Northern 
superstitions,  and  were  not  irresponsive  to  signs  and  assertions 
of  the  supernatural.  Some  of  them  had  already  been  converted 
to  the  Arian  form  of  Christianity.  When,  therefore,  they  were 
everj^wherc  confronted  by  the  Church,  with  its  stately  ceremonial, 
its  compact  hierarchy,  its  open  door,  its  tender  yet  awful  teach- 

^Bryce,  "The  Holy  Roman  Empire,"  pp.  21,  22.  *Rev.  xiv.  8. 

22 


33^  Christianity  as  Organised 

ings,  Its  supernatural  authority,  the  ancient  story  was  retold  of 
the  victor  yielding  himself  up  to  the  moral  power  of  his  prostrate 
foe.  Greece  in  letters,  and  despised  little  Jud?ea  in  religion,  had 
already  subdued  their  Roman  conquerors;  and  now  Rome.  Chris- 
tianized, is  in  her  turn  to  triumph  over  the  triumphant  bar- 
barians. 

3.  Shall  the  Medieval  Papacy  Be  Approved? 

Here,  as  in  connection  with  every  great  institution  or  move- 
ment of  Christianity,  is  felt  the  pressure  of  the  strictly  Christian, 
as  distinguished  from  the  ecclesiastical,  question :  Is  it  in  accord 
with  the  mind  of  Christ?  Shall  we  say — quoting  sundry  think- 
ers who  themselves  are  utter  disbelievers  in  the  grounds  of  the 
papal  claim — that  at  least  from  Gregory  the  Great  to  Gregory 
the  Seventh  the  papacy  formed  a  part  of  God's  great  scheme  for 
the  governing  of  the  world ;  that  it  "was  necessary  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  Romanic  and  Germanic  nations  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
but  has  virtually  outlived  itself;"  that  the  providential  function 
of  the  Middle  Ages  was  to  "create  an  Imperial  Church  which 
should  bridle  and  tame  the  pioneer  centuries  of  modernity;"  that 
something  like  "this  was  the  course  which  the  world,  in  its  inner 
evolution,  had  to  take?" 

It  is  of  course  not  a  question  of  the  approval  of  the  briberies, 
finesse,  and  frauds  that  have  been  practiced  by  the  promoters  of 
papal  authority.  These  are  confessedly  evil — only  evil  in  any 
form  of  Christianity,  and  especially  so  in  that  which  claims  to 
be  not  only  preeminently  holy  but  the  one  holy  and  only  Church 
of  Christ  on  earth.  Nobody,  for  example,  would  now  justify 
the  Roman  canonists'  gross  interpolations,  for  the  papacy's  sake, 
in  Cyprian's  treatise  "On  the  Unity  of  the  Church ;"  nor  the  pub- 
lication of  the  shameless  forgery  of  "The  Donation  of  Constan- 
tine ;"  nor  the  attributing  of  the  Sardican  canons  to  the  Council 
of  Nice ;  nor  the  use  of  the  Pseudo-Isadorian  Decretals,  that  most 
successful  of  all  historic  forgeries,  which  for  six  hundred  years 
served  so  well  the  pope's  purpose  to  concentrate  in  himself  all 
episcopal  power.     Together  with  the  frauds,  the  numerous  vices 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  339 

and  crimes,  the  utter  apostasy  and  shamelessness,  in  which  the 
papacy  has  been  imphcated  can  expect  nothing  but  condemna- 
tion/ Only  let  all  the  Christian  churches,  as  well  as  all  the 
Christians,  remember  the  Master's  words  and  try  to  make  their 
true  application :  "J^flg^  "ot,  that  ye  be  not  judged ;"  ''Beware 
of  false  prophets." 

Nor  is  it  a  question  of  the  acceptance  or  the  rejection  of  the 
peculiar  i)apal  claims.  For  if  these  be  true,  and  so  the  bishop  of 
Rome  indeed  the  vicegerent  of  Christ  on  earth,  to  whom  all  au- 
thority has  been  committed,  in  disobedience  to  whom  is  eternal 
condemnation,  then  this  supremacy  of  Rome  must  be  accepted 
as  a  part  of  God's  plan  of  governing  the  world  not  onl}^  in  the 
Middle  Ages  but  in  all  ages.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  these 
claims  have  no  foundation  in  truth,  then  this  absolute  Roman 
supremacy  is  contrary  to  the  will  and  purpose  of  Christ,  and 
outside  the  Divine  plan.  Only  the  true  can  claim  as  its  author 
the  God  of  truth. 

Nor  yet  again  is  it  a  question  as  to  whether  the  papacy,  sup- 
posed to  be  an  evil  thing  in  itself,  or  at  best  a  colossal  and  tragic 
blunder,  Avas  overruled  for  the  effecting  of  certain  great  and 
good  results.  For  that  which  will  not  be  divinely  ruled  may  still 
be  divinely  overruled.  That  God  should  turn  the  intended  curse 
of  the  Moabites  against  Israel  into  a  blessing;''  that  he  should 

^A  scholarly  Roman  Catholic  historical  writer  is  constrained  to  say: 
"During  that  long  period  of  a  century  and  a  half  [882-1046]  there  is  hardly 
one,  perhaps  not  one  Pope,  who  was  even  an  ordinarily  good  bishop.  It  is  a 
long  story  of  simoniacal  elections,  murder,  and  violence  of  every  kind,  to- 
gether with  shameless  lust."  (Fortescue,  "The  Orthodox  Eastern  Church," 
pp.  172,  173.)  "Horrible  people"  is  the  author's  name  for  a  long  line  of 
popes. 

"The  papacy  itself  lost  all  independence  and  dignity,  and  became  the  prey 
of  avarice,  violence,  and  intrigue,  a  veritable  synagogue  of  Satan.  It  was 
dragged  through  the  quagmire  of  the  darkest  crimes,  and  would  have  per- 
ished in  utter  disgrace  had  not  Providence  saved  it  for  better  times.  Pope 
followed  pope  in  rapid  succession,  and  most  of  them  ended  their  career  in 
deposition,  prison,  and  murder."  (Schaff,  "History  of  the  Christian  Church," 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  283.)  indeed,  of  this  long  period  of  utter  depravity  and  crim- 
inality, there  can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt. 

'Num.  xxiii.  23,  24. 


340  Christianity  as  Organised 

use  the  Assyrians,  cruelest  of  nations,  as  a  scourge  for  his  elect 
people,  and  the  sword  of  Cyrus  as  their  deliverance;'  that  the 
wicked  conquests  of  Alexander  should  be  made  the  occasion  for 
the  diffusion  of  the  Greek  language  over  the  world  as  a  prep- 
aration for  Christian  literature  and  preaching;  that  tlie  unifica- 
tion of  countries  and  nations  under  the  Roman  Empire  sliould 
make  possible  the  missionary  labors  and  successes  of  the  Apostles 
and  others,  by  which  the  Church  was  founded  among  Jews  and 
Gentiles ;  that  Caesar's  bloody  conquest  of  Gaul  should  have 
wrought  eventually  for  the  betterment  of  the  land ;  that  the  Nor- 
man Conquest,  with  all  its  cruelty  and  oppression  and  all  its  evil 
consequences,  should  have  served  as  an  agency  in  English  civili- 
zation; that  American  slavery  should  issue  in  the  civilizing  and 
Christianizing  of  millions  of  the  world's  most  benighted  inhab- 
itants ;  that  this  or  that  American  war,  whether  righteous  or 
unrighteous,  should  have  resulted  well,  in  certain  respects,  for 
the  world's  progress — that  such  things  may  be  true,  while  the 
agents  in  all  these  movements,  from  the  Assyrian  to  the  Amer- 
ican, may  have  been  actuated  by  the  greed  of  gain  or  the  lust 
of  dominion,  working  an  evil  work  and  suffering  the  punishment 
that  was  meet ; — all  this  is  a  commonplace  in  the  Christian  view 
of  history.  And  the  Roman  ecclesiastic  rule  might  easily  be  sup- 
posed to  be  of  a  kind  with  these  other  historic  facts.  But  neither 
does  this  touch  the  point  now  under  consideration. 

Or,  on  the  other  hand,  we  might  be  asked  to  imagine  what 
would  have  been  the  result  if  the  medieval  papacy  had  had  its 
own  way  up  to  the  present  time.  What  would  have  been  the 
condition  of  modern  civilization  and  religion — of  our  modern 
world?  The  ignorance,  the  arrest  of  progress,  the  superstition, 
the  poverty,  the  unheal th fulness,  the  political  absolutism,  the 
slavery  of  conscience,  the  abjectness  of  intellect  must  indeed 
have  been  appalling.    But  this,  too,  is  irrelevant  to  our  question. 

The  question  is  whether,  not  the  papacy,  either  as  it  was  or  as 
it  is,  but  a  simple,  strong,  authoritative  headship  of  the  Church, 
was  needed  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God  during  the 

*Isa.  xllv.  28;   xlv.  1-7. 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  341 

long  and  dark  transitional  period  of  European  civilization.  If 
it  was  needed,  then  we  may  well  believe  it  to  have  been  included 
in  the  Divine  purpose. 

The  laws  of  historic  development  have  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Familiar  enough  is  the  proverb,  the  good  is  the  ene- 
my of  the  best;  but  may  not  the  best,  on  the  other  hand,  be  the 
enemy  of  the  good — namely,  through  trying  to  force  the  ideally 
perfect  upon  people  incapable  of  appreciating  or  using  it?  The 
ideally  perfect  life  is  for  a  man  to  direct  and  govern  himself — ■ 
to  live,  as  his  body  does,  from  within.  But  so  long  as  the  man 
is  a  child  it  is  best  that  he  should  be,  to  a  very  large  extent,  di- 
rected and  governed  from  without.  So  with  the  childhood  of 
an  age.  Incapable  of  democratic  self-government,  it  may  find 
its  best  in  some  form  of  strong  monarchical  control.  Undoubt- 
edly "the  best"  is  no  less  a  comparative  than  a  superlative  idea.^ 

Let  us,  then,  imagine  the  Roman  bishop's  office  stripped  of 
every  false  belief  or  pretension,  and  exalted  not  simply  to  some 
such  primacy  in  the  Church  of  the  West  as  the  early  centuries 
were  disposed  to  sanction,  but  to  a  distinctly  stronger  authority: 
might  it  not  reasonably  and  righteously  have  presented  itself  to 
the  Middle  Ages  as  their  very  best  form  of  church  government?'' 

*"That  form  of  church  government  is  best  which  in  any  given  age  and 
society  works  best;  and  this  may  well  be  concentrated  personal  authority  in 
one  set  of  circumstances,  and  democratic  representative  administration  in 
another.  Each  has  its  advantages  and  its  disadvantages."  (Hyde,  "From 
Epicurus  to  Christ,"  p.  244.) 

"To  Western  Christianity  was  absolutely  necessary  a  center,  standing 
alone,  strong  in  traditionary  reverence,  and  in  acknowledged  claims  to  su- 
premacy. .  .  .  Providence  might  have  ordained  otherwise,  but  it  is  im- 
possible for  man  to  imagine  by  what  other  organizing  or  consolidating  force 
the  commonwealth  of  the  Western  nations  could  have  grown  up  to  a  dis- 
cordant, indeed,  and  conflicting  league,  but  still  to  a  league,  ...  to  issue 
in  the  noblest,  highest,  most  intellectual  form  of  civilization  known  to  man." 
(Milman,  "Latin  Christianity,"  Bk.  III.,  ch.  vii.,  pp.  42,  43.) 

^"Regarded  merely  as  the  efflorescence  of  the  episcopate,  the  ecclesiastical 
center  of  Western  Christendom,  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  idea  of  the  papacy  positively  anti-Christian.  If  it  be  not  anti-Chris- 
tian for  the  faithful  of  a  diocese  to  gather  themselves  round  a  bishop,  or 
for  the  bishops  of  a  province  to  evolve  out  of  their  body  a  metropolitan  cen- 
ter, no  more  was  it  anti-Christian   for  the  episcopate  of  an  empire,  or  of 


342  Christianity  as  Organised 

May  I  venture  to  suggest  a  modern  illustration?  The  distin- 
guishing religious  movement  of  England  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  the  Evangelical  Revival.  Its  leader,  whose  administra- 
tive gifts  have  rarely  been  equaled,  enrolled  his  followers  in  soci- 
eties under  his  own  personal  control.  Eor  half  a  century,  even 
unto  the  day  of  his  death,  when  these  societies  numbered  over  a 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  members,  he  governed  them,  save 
for  a  few  years  in  America,  with  an  unshared  authority.  To 
God  alone  would  he  hold  himself  responsible.  Not  that  he  had 
chosen  to  be  intrusted  with  so  great  power.  "It  came  upon  me 
unawares,"  so  he  solemnly  declared.  'T  always  did  and  do  now 
bear  it  as  my  burden — the  burden  which  God  lays  upon  me — • 
and  therefore  I  dare  not  yet  lay  it  dn\vn."  This  Wesleyan  au- 
thoritv,  some  measure  of  which  has  been  transmitted  through 
Episcopal  Methodism  to  our  own  time,  is  now  largely  recognized 
as  subversive  of  no  Christian  principle,  and  as  grounded  in  vol- 
untary mutual  self-renunciation  for  the  sake  of  unity,  edification, 
and  aggressive  force.    And  its  works  are  its  commendation. 

Now  may  not  something  like  that  which  took  place  amid  many 
limitations  in  a  modern  instance  have  taken  place,  a  thousand 
years  before,  in  the  far  wider  field  which  opened  westward  for 
the  bishops  of  Rome?  There  was  need  of  it.  For  the  West  of 
the  Middle  Ages  there  was  apparent  fitness  in  the  centralization 
of  administrative  authority — fitness  not  only  in  centralizing  and 
personalizing  it,  but  in  clothing  it  with  extraordinary  power. 
These  medieval  men  were  not  able  to  think  for  themselves,  in 
either  politics  or  religion.  They  were  not  ready  for  self-govern- 
ment. They  had  neither  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility  nor 
the  social  conscience  which  are  necessary  to  a  true  and  safe  de- 
mocracy. Let  them  be  taught  and  ciuickened  and  built  up  into 
intellectual  and  moral  manhood.  But  meantime  they  must  sub- 
mit to  a  guiding  and  governing  authority  that  might  afterwards 
prove  far  more  an  intrusion  and  injustice  than  a  necessity. 

the  whole  Church,  to  develop  from  itself  a  living  center  of  unity,  which 
should  have  the  effect  of  consolidating  and  binding  together  the  whole 
body."     (Litton,  "The  Church  of  Christ,"  pp.  325,  326.) 


Bishop:  THe  Papacy  343 

W^as  not,  then,  that  turbulent  time,  enshrining  nevertheless  so 
splendid  a  promise,  the  opportunity  for  a  united  and  progressive 
church  under  a  single  personal  leadership?  Let  such  a  leader- 
ship be  unspoiled  by  the  debasement  of  authority  into  despotism, 
let  it  be  enlightened  and  evangelic,  yet  firm,  comj^act,  powerful 
to  subdue  the  awakening  minds  of  men  into  reverence  for  divine 
ordinances  and  to  embody  in  organic  form  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, let  it  be  a  pure  type  of  Christianity  organized — so  runs  the 
dream  of  what  might  have  been.' 

But  it  was  not  so.  The  men  of  that  day  being  such  as  they 
were — only  partly  escaped  from  the  immemorial  superstitions 
of  paganism  and  the  overpowering  idea  of  imperialism,  accus- 
tomed to  worship  Rome  in  the  person  of  the  Emperor — the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  Man  was  corrupted,  authority  overstrained, 
apostolic  o^•ersight  perverted  into  hieratic  and  papal  absolutism. 
Only  the  truth  that  remained  shall  we  dare  to  call  divine. 
The  watch-care,  the  principle  of  authority  and  obedience,  the  co- 
operation, the  organized  aggressiveness,  the  external  unity — 
these,  it  is  not  hard  to  believe,  were  of  God's  ordering.  And  the 
great  good  that  was  done — in  the  arrest  of  barbarism,  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  in  saving  distant  churches  like  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  from  lapsing  into  deepest  ignorance  and  debasement,  in 
the  enforcement  of  an  authority  under  whose  j^rotection  nations 
might  arise,  in  the  inculcation  of  various  Christian  truths — it 
would  be  the  very  perverseness  of  folly  to  deny.     Separated  in 

^  Still  it  might  not  unreasonably  be  imagined  that  even  in  the  Middle  Ages 
a  less  centralized  and  personal  form  of  government  would,  on  the  whole, 
have  accomplished  greater  good — for  example,  that  of  the  Cyprianic  episco- 
pacy, or  the  conciliar  system  as  illustrated  in  Presbyterianism.  "If  left  to 
itself,  the  genius  of  Christianity  might  have  evolved  an  organization  which, 
starting  from  the  unit  of  the  congregational  meeting,  and  rising  through  a 
series  of  synods  with  widening  areas  of  jurisdiction,  might  have  culminated 
in  a  really  representative  ecumenical  council,  or  synod,  which  would  have 
given  a  visible  unity  of  organization  to  the  whole  Christian  Church,  and  at 
the  same  time  would  have  preserved  its  primitive  democratic  organization." 
(Lindsay,  "Church  and  Ministry,"  p.  334.) 

One  may  even  conceive  of  the  successful  operation  of  the  original  congre- 
gational church  government  from  the  beginning,  under  all  circumstances, 
until  now.     (Cf.  Keermance,  "Dem.ocracy  in  the  Church,"  pp.  36  fT.) 


344  Christianity  as  Organised 

thought  from  the  enormous  evils  by  which  it  was  embarrassed, 
the  good  stands  forth  as  a  witness  to  the  purpose  of  God  in  the 
life  of  the  ages  out  of  which  our  own  was  born. 

4.  Two  Additional  Stages  of  Papal  Development. 

Recurring  now  to  the  story  of  the  papacy,  we  shall  have  to 
mark  two  more  stages  of  development. 

The  first  is  well  represented  by  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  VII. 
(1073-85),  better  known  as  Hildebrand,  who  asserted,  as  one 
of  his  official  prerogatives,  the  power  to  govern  the  nations  in 
the  interest  of  the  Church.  The  pope  was  overlord,  kings  and 
emperors  his  vassals.  All  kings  must  take  or  lay  aside  their 
crowns,  and  all  peoples  pay  allegiance  to  their  sovereigns,  or 
refuse  it,  at  his  will. 

Was  Hildebrand  wholly  wrong  in  this  assertion?  ,\ssuming 
the  papal  idea  to  be  true,  he  was  wholly  right.  For,  according  to 
this  idea,  the  Divine  plan  for  the  government  of  the  world  was 
that  of  a  theocracy,  with  the  bishop  of  Rome  enthroned  as  the 
one  universal  and  absolute  ruler.  The  State,  therefore,  which 
was  purely  secular,  must  exercise  no  authority  over  the  Church, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  must  yield  to  the  Church's  authority,  which 
was  that  of  the  theocracy,  the  veritable  kingdom  of  God.  That 
bishops,  for  example,  should  be  in  any  wise  dependent  on  the 
State  for  their  appointment  to  office  was  not  to  be  tolerated 
(which  was  true  enough).  Did  the  Emperor  or  the  King*  of 
England  or  any  other  civil  ruler  insist  on  having  a  determinative 
voice  in  episcopal  appointments?  He  thereby  lost  his  right  to 
reign,  and  the  pope  must  remove  him  from  the  throne  and  ap- 
point another  in  his  place  (which  was  by  no  means  true).  This, 
no  doubt,  is  still  the  papal  idea  of  the  relation  of  Church  and 
State,  and  Hildebrand  was  simply  endeavoring,  with  an  inflexi- 
ble purpose,  to  give  it  effective  form.  Christian  kings  wear  their 
crowns  only  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  must  conduct 
their  kingdoms  as  his  dear  and  obedient  sons. 

It  was  such  a  voice  as  had  never  been  heard  in  the  world  be- 
fore. Imperial  Rome  gained  the  obedience  of  the  nations,  so 
far  as  she  might  be  able  to  subjugate  them  with  the  sword,  ruling 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  345 

by  physical  force;  papal  Rome  commanded  their  obedience  as  a 
God-given  ordinance,  to  disobey  which  was  rebellion  against  the 
Most  High.  Was  it  but  an  idle  boast?  At  any  rate,  it  left  the 
recalcitrant  monarcli  well-nigh  helpless.  What  could  he  do,  with 
the  churches  of  his  kingdom  closed,  sacraments  forbidden,  the 
dead  refused  burial  in  consecrated  ground,  and  Jiis  subjects  freed 
from  their  oath  of  aUegiance,  by  a  supernatural  Authority  be- 
side which  his  own  was  little  more  than  child's  play?^ 

The  other  stage  of  development  concerns  the  question  of  doc- 
trinal infallibility.  Is  the  pope  an  infallible  teacher?  The  Church 
has  always  been  believed  by  Romanists — as  it  is  now  generally 
believed  perhaps  by  High  Anglicans'' — to  be  infallible.  But  there 
must  needs  be  some  organ  through  which  the  absolutely  true 
teaching  is  expressed.  It  were  vain  to  speak  of  a  general  in- 
fallible authority  in  the  Church  without  informing  the  inquirer 
when  and  wdiere  its  articulate  voice  may  be  heard.  What,  then,  is 
the  infallible  Church's  organ  of  expression?  Perhaps  the  Gen- 
eral Council,  perhaps  the  pope,  perhaps  the  General  Council  and 
the  pope  acting  conjointly — who  can  tell?  There  were  three  dif- 
ferent opinions,  as  just  indicated,  on  the  subject. 

But  the  opinion  that  for  infallible  teaching  we  must  look  to 
the  pope — though  quite  contrary  to  the  enactments  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constance  (1414)'  and  of  some  lesser  councils — showed 

^It  may  help  toward  realizing  the  situation  to  remember  that  "the  great 
body  of  Christians  in  the  West"  in  that  day  "feared  the  thunders  of  the 
Lateran  as  those  of  heaven;  and  were  no  more  capable  of  sound  discrimi- 
nation as  to  the  limits,  grounds,  and  nature  of  the  authority  than  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  destructive  fire  from  the  clouds.  Their  general  belief  in  the 
judgment  to  come  was  not  more  deeply  rooted  than  in  the  right  of  the 
clergy,  more  especially  the  head  of  the  clergy,  to  anticipate,  to  declare,  or  to 
ratify  their  doom."     (Milman,  "Latin  Christianity,"  Bk.  VII.,  ch.  i.,  p.  363.) 

^Gore,  "Roman  Catholic  Claims,"  pp.  2>7,  38,  7i,  74- 

*The  significance  of  the  Council  of  Constance  lies  in  its  assertion  of 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  General  Council.  Refusing  to  take  the  mind 
of  Christ  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  ultimate  rule  of  faith,  unresponsive  to  the 
new  life  of  thought  and  independent  activity  that  was  wakening  in  the  world, 
deaf  to  the  voices  of  the  prophets  whom  God  was  raising  up,  this  Council 
sent  John  Hus,  the  brave  and  gentle  Christian  preacher,  to  the  flames.  But 
it  also  deposed  John  XXIII.,  the  immoral  pope. 


346  Christianity  as  Organised 

certain  obvious  advantages.  For  one  thing,  it  seemed  a  long 
time  to  wait,  from  one  General  Council  to  another,  in  order  to 
get  an  absolutely  true  definition  in  doctrine  or  morals.'  And  was 
not  the  pope  at  any  rate  superior  to  the  Council?  was  not  he, 
and  no  body  of  bishops,  however  venerable,  the  Rock  upon  which 
the  Church  was  founded?  And  is  it  not  fitting  that  the  absolute 
ruler  should  also  be  the  absolute  teacher?  Such  considerations 
favored  the  attributing  of  this  power  to  the  see  of  Rome. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  tlie  see  of  Rome  had  been  exercising  it 
already.  For  it  was  in  1854,  for  example,  that  Pius  IX.,  with- 
out convoking  a  council,  set  forth,  on  his  own  autliority,  the 
dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception — which  h.ad  been  rejected 
bv  such  men  as  Augustine  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  tlie  chief  the- 
ologians of  the  fifth  and  the  thirteenth  century — and  demanded, 
on  pain  of  the  Church's  anathema,  that  it  be  thenceforth  univer- 
sally accepted.  In  the  decreeing  of  this  new  article  of  faith, 
then,  we  may  recognize  an  effectiAe  preparation  for  the  enact- 
ment of  the  decree  of  papal  infallibility,  which  was  soon  to  be 
accomplished  under  the  management  and  influence  of  this  same 
energetic  pontiff. 

True,  the  proposal  that  the  Chair  of  Peter,  apart  altogether 
from  the  General  Council  or  any  other  authority,  should  be  de- 
clared infallible,  was  strongly  resisted  by  bishops,  scholars,  writ- 
ers, and  others."     In  England  and  Ireland  especially  it  seems  to 

'Not,  however,  that  frequent  ex  cathedra  definitions  in  doctrine  or  morals 
for  the  whole  Church  are  to  be  had  even  from  an  infallible  pope.  There 
has  been  none,  I  think,  since  the  session  of  the  Council  which  defined  and 
declared  his  infallibilitJ^  "What  is  the  advantage  of  a  rapid-firing  gun,"  it 
has  been  asked,  "if  one  never  fires  it?" 

"To  resist  it  now  means  excommunication.  Yet  how,  in  the  light  of  his- 
toric knowledge,  can  it  be  accepted  ?    Let  a  Modernist  tell : 

"Your  Eminence :  a  boy  in  his  teens,  as  ignorant  as  he  was  morally 
vicious,  was  once  elected  to  be  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  He  had  not  at  the 
moment  of  his  election  the  most  rudimentary  knowledge  of  his  catechism. 
You  maintain  that  the  great  Christian  tradition  and  deposit  of  the  faith 
was  suddenly  interfused  into  that  empty,  godless  little  brain;  that  he  had 
only  to  look  within  himself  in  order  to  instruct  the  whole  episcopate  as  to 
the  true  sense  of  revelation.  Plainly  your  Church-theory  is  tenable  only  on 
the   supposition   of   a  continual   miracle   as   wonderful  as  the   conversion  of 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  347 

ha\e  gained  very  little  foothold.  Still  it  persisted  and  gathered 
strength.  It  was  the  simplest  and  most  logical  outcome  of  the 
situation.  Above  all,  the  Curia  willed  it  and  worked  for  its  real- 
ization. So  when  the  time  had  grown  ripe  for  defining  the 
Roman  faith  on  this  question.  Pope  Pius  convoked  the  Vatican 
Council,  which,  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1870,  enacted  the  canon  of 
papal  infallibility.  Not  declaring  the  Roman  Pontiff  incapable 
of  error  in  his  personal  opinions,  it  does  declare  him  incapable 
of  error  in  defining  a  doctrine  concerning  faith  or  morals  for 
the  whole  Church. 

Thus  the  center  of  government  was  now  asserted  to  be,  and 
for  all  papists  made  to  be,  the  center  of  teaching.  Christian 
unitv  was  completely  defined.  The  centralizing  idea  wliich  for 
long  years  had  wrought  with  irregular  but  often  renewed  energ}' 
had  now  finished  its  task  triumphantly.  The  General  Council 
lay  prostrate  at  the  foot  of  the  papal  throne.  The  official  word 
of  one  man  became  the  universal  law,  from  which  there  was  ab- 
solutely no  appeal. 

True  enough,  this  one  man's  infallibility  consists,  as  it  has 
been  pertinently  said,  in  ''his  inability  to  confess  that  either  he 
or  his  predecessors  erred  even  where  their  errors  are  most  mani- 
fest." But,  nevertheless,  it  is  now  ofificially  defined  as  historic, 
genuine,  divine:  and  accordingly  the  Church  as  lawmaker,  ad- 
ministrator, judge,  and  teacher,  is  the  Pope. 

Shall  we  again  be  reminded  that  the  papal  dream  of  unity  has 
failed  of  fulfillment  ?  In  the  attempt  to  realize  it  the  see  of  Rome 
repelled  the  Eastern  Church  till  the  ecclesiastical  separation  of 
East  and  West  became  irreparable.  Later,  in  the  Protestant 
Reformation,  it  hopelessly  lost  the  strongest,  most  enlightened, 
and  most  progressive  nations  of  the  world.  In  some  lands,  in- 
deed, it  crushed  the  rising  dissent — and  in  torture-chambers  so 

water  into  wine,  and  which  would  give  us  a  right  to  look  for  a  uniform  and 
superhuman  wisdom  in  the  supreme  government  of  the  Church,  for  which 
there  is  not  a  vestige  of  historic  evidence."  (Tyrrell,  "Medievalism :  A  Reply 
to  Cardinal  Mercier,"  pp.  59.  60.) 


34^  Christianity  as  Organised 

terrible  that  in  comparison  the  Imperial  persecutions  of  the  early- 
Christians  were  moderate  and  merciful.  But  in  others  the  an- 
cient witness  was  repeated  of  men  and  women  invincible  in  faith 
and  courage, 

"Who  wrapped  the  robe  of  flame  around  them,^hanking  God," 

and  multiplied  the  number  of  their  fellow-believers.  And  where 
this  Roman  unity,  enforced  with  both  natural  and  supernatural 
terrors,  seemed  most  successful,  there  the  spiritual  failure  has  of 
necessity  shown  the  deepest.  For  its  success  was  gained  at  the 
expense  of  Christian  truth  and  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Again,  what  was  the  territorial  extent  of  Rome's  ecclesiastic 
unity  at  the  height  of  her  power?  It  was  the  Southern  and 
Western  Europe  of  the  Middle  Ages — a  plain  and  easily  man- 
ageable field  compared  with  the  Christian  world  of  the  twen- 
tieth century.'^  What  was  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  people 
united  under  the  absolutism  of  her  government  ?  They  were 
potentially  active-minded,  but  as  yet  of  the  night  and  of  dark- 
ness— asleep  in  ignorance,  the  prey  of  gross  intimidating  super- 
stitions, without  science,  without  historic  knowledge  or  criticism, 
without  initiative,  without  independence  of  thought.  True,  in 
that  medieval  time  "the  brain  drank  in  the  ecclesiastical  belief 
as  the  lungs  breathed  the  air;"  but  it  was  an  unenlightened  brain. 
It  was  destitute  both  of  the  science  which  was  yet  to  be  and — ■ 
far  worse  deprivation — of  the  New  Testament  which  had  been 
hidden  securely  away. 

But  alike  through  successes  and  failures,  in  the  "ages  of  faith" 
and  in  the  ages  of  enlightenment,  the  papal  policy,  much  modified 
from  time  to  time  in  administration,  remains  essentially  the  same. 
At  all  hazards  unity  of  organization,  under  one  monarchical 
head,  has  been  maintained.  This  unlawful  empire  of  the  soul 
stands  to-day  a  marvel  of  organic  strength  and  completeness. 
While  many  thousands  of  those  whom  it  counts  in  its  member- 
ship are  indifferent  or  unbelieving,  other  thousands  are  ready  to 

'Fairbairn,  "Catholicism,  Roman  and  Anglican,"  p.  279. 


Bishop:  The  Papacy  349 

go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  braving  every  hardship  and  danger, 
in  its  service.  Giant  Pope,  indeed,  as  Biinyan  described  him  over 
two  hundred  years  ago,  may  have  ''grown  so  crazy  and  stiff  in 
his  joints  that  he  can  do  little  more  than  sit  in  his  cave's  mouth" 
in  impotent  anger — so  far  as  his  relations  to  heretical  Christians 
are  concerned.  Yet  within  his  own  immense  constituency  he  is 
still  the  recipient  of  great  reverence  and  obedience. 

Meantime  it  remains,  and  doubtless  it  will  remain  when  the 
heavens  shall  ha\'e  passed  away,  that  not  without  freedom  can 
spiritual  unity  be  achieved,  and  not  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  can  the  prison  walls  of  the  soul  be  broken  down. 


XV. 

UNITY:    THE    COUNCIL, 

The  conciliar  idea  may  lay  claim  to  universality.  People  ac- 
cept it  as  a  matter  of  course,  without  ever  inquiring  whether 
there  was  a  time  when  it  was  str-ange  or  unknown.  So  long  as 
men  are  what  they  are,  imperfect  in  wisdom  and  inclined  to  open 
their  minds  to  one  another,  it  is  inevitable  that  they  should  as- 
semble, formally  or  informally,  for  discussion  and  conference. 
And  so  long  as  they  have  to  live  in  di\-ers  trying  social  rela- 
tions— such,  for  instance,  as  that  of  government — it  is  inevitable 
that  beliefs,  usages,  and  laws  should  be  proposed  for  considera- 
tion and  action  at  their  meetings.  The  same  idea  is  illustrated 
whenever  one  man  asks  advice  of  another.  It  appears  in  num- 
berless everyday  forms.  Any  two  or  three  persons  met  togetlier, 
though  it  be  but  casually  on  the  street,  talking  over  some  matter 
of  common  interest,  and  trying  to  reach  a  unanimous  decision, 
illustrate  the  essential  principle  of  the  Roman  Senate,  the  Jewish 
Sanhedrin,  the  Council  of  Nice,  the  Second  Hague  Conference, 
or  the  International  Court  of  Arbitration — a  dewdrop  sliowing 
pictures  of  the  sky. 

"Where  there  is  no  counsel  purposes  are  disappointed : 
But  in  the  multitude  of  counselors  they  are  established." 

Now  in  both  Church  and  State  the  council,  like  the  chief  offi- 
cer of  government — the  bishop,  or  president,  or  monarch — stands 
committed  to  the  principle  of  unity.  However  numerous  or  dis- 
cordant the  voices  with  which  it  speaks  within  its  own  doors,  tlie 
aim  is  to  speak  finally  and  out  of  doors  with  a  single  voice,  so 
as  to  unify  as  well  as  to  guide  or  govern  the  people  in  whose  be- 
half it  acts.  Whether  it  be  an  advisory  or  an  authoritatix'e  body, 
this  is  true.  If  advisory,  it  is  intended  that  all  shall  follow  its 
advice;  if  authoritative,  that  all  shall  keep  its  laws.  Therefore, 
whatever  other  function  it  may  perform,  a  council  cannot  be  con- 
C350) 


Unity:  The  Council  351 

ceived  otherwise  than  as  a  power  that  makes  for  order,  peace, 
unity. 

I.  Councils  in  the  New  Testament. 

In  the  first  days  of  Christian  organization,  when  differences 
of  sentiment  and  usage,  or  even  dissensions,  arose,  threatening 
the  peace  of  a  congregation,  there  was  one  great  and  pecuhar 
bond  of  unity  available — namely,  the  determinative  word  of  an 
Apostle.  An  instructive  example  is  given  in  the  First  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians.  When  the  Christian  believers  in  Corinth  were 
divided  on  certain  exciting  points  of  morals  and  church  order, 
they  wrote  to  their  inspired  founder  and  teacher  concerning  these 
matters.  The  propriety  of  ])artaking.  either  at  one's  own  table 
or  at  a  bancjuet  to  which  one  had  been  invited  by  a  pagan  friend, 
of  meats  that  had  been  offered  in  sacrifice  to  idols,  was  such 
a  question.  And  here  we  know  how  luminous  and  complete  was 
the  apostolic  answer.^ 

But  the  occasions  of  disputings,  sometimes  petty  and  some- 
times full  of  significance,  are  innumerable  in  the  Church — as  in 
the  home  or  the  neighborhood  or  in  any  association.  To  deal 
with  each  separately  and  distinctly  were  impossible.  Therefore, 
the  Apostle,  penetrating  to  the  heart  of  the  whole  matter,  would 
judge  them  all,  from  first  to  last,  in  the  light  of  the  newly  re- 
vealed law  of  Christlike  love.  "If  meat  make  my  brother  to 
stumble,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  for  evermore."  "Is  Christ  divided? 
was  Paul  crucified  for  you?"  "If  there  is  any  comfort  in  Christ, 
if  any  consolation  of  love,  .  .  .  fulfill  ye  my  joy  that  ye 
be  of  the  same  mind,  having  the  same  love,  being  of  one  accord, 
of  one  mind."    That  was  Paul's  universally  applicable  answer. 

The  chief  thing,  then,  is  to  recognize  practically  the  center  of 
mind,  love,  life  in  the  ever-living  Christ.  Under  the  light  of  that 
vision  of  unity  many  a  disorderly  battle  in  the  dark,  with  all  its 
fateful  effects,  would  be  avoided. 

But  there  is  also  a  notable  instance  in  the  New  Testament  of 

'i  Cor.  viii. 


352  Christianity  as  Organised 

an  effort  to  maintain  the  imperiled  unity  of  a  congregation  by 
convoking  a  council.  Even  in  this  case,  however,  the  Aj^ostles 
were  to  be  members  of  the  body;  and  doubtless  it  was  to  them 
chiefly  that  the  appeal  for  the  peace-giving  decision  was  made. 
Shall  we  recall  the  occasion?  The  newly-formed  Jewish-Chris- 
tian church  in  Antioch  was  unable  to  decide  as  to  the  conditions 
on  which  Gentiles  should  be  received  into  its  communion.  It 
was  no  mere  local  moot  point  to  be  settled.  It  was  a  c[uestion 
of  vital  and  far-reaching  significance.  Whether  the  little  churcli 
in  Antioch  realized  it  or  not,  the  future  of  Christianity  depended 
largely  upon  the  answer  that  might  be  given  to  such  questions. 

The  Church  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  must  remember,  was 
racial.  It  was  composed  of  the  children  of  Abraham,  and  of  any 
others,  never  a  great  number,  who  might  receive  the  sign  of  the 
covenant  which  God  had  made  with  the  first  Hebrew  father. 
Should  the  Church  of  the  New  Covenant  likewise  be  racial,  or 
was  it  the  Divine  will  that  it  should  be  in  the  simplest  and  truest 
sense  universal?  Jewish  particularism  or  evangelic  universal- 
ism?  That  was  the  question;  and  the  Antiochian  Christians  felt 
their  incompetence  to  settle  it  alone.  They  sent  it,  accordingly, 
by  the  mouth  of  Saul,  Barnabas,  and  other  messengers,  to  the 
Apostles  and  the  elders  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  for  determi- 
nation. 

However,  not  only  these  but  also  the  non-oflicial  members  of 
the  church  seem  to  have  attended  the  meeting  and  to  have  ap- 
proved its  action.  For  the  messengers  from  Antioch  were  re- 
ceived by  "the  church"  as  well  as  by  "the  Apostles  and  the 
elders;"  and  the  messengers  sent  from  Jerusalem,  at  the  close  of 
the  conference,  to  convey  its  decision,  were  chosen  by  the  Apos- 
tles and  elders  "with  the  whole  church."* 

This  conference  has  sometimes  been  called,  though  with  no 
commendable  accuracy  of  language,  the  First  General  Council. 
It  was  not  general  at  all,  unless  the  word  be  here  used  in  a 
peculiar  sense.     For  it  was  not  a  council  of  different  churches 

^Acts  XV.  1-29. 


Unity:  The  Council  353 

meeting  in  the  person  of  their  representatives  to  consider  mat- 
ters of  common  interest  and  importance,  but  the  council  of  a 
single  church,  called  at  the  request  and  on  the  behalf  of  another. 
And  although  it  could  claim  the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
yet  the  prohibitions  that  made  up  its  decision — "that  ye  abstain 
from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from  things 
strangled,  and  from  fornication" — were  not  as  a  whole  generally 
applicable.  They  were  intended  in  their  entirety  to  meet  certain 
conditions  only ;  for,  as  we  know,  one  of  them — that,  namely,  of 
abstention  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols — was  not  by  the  apos- 
tle Paul  laid  upon  the  consciences  of  the  Corinthian  Christians.' 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  asserted  with  perfect  truth  that 
this  was  no  ordinary  congregational  council  called  to  decide  an 
economic  question  for  a  sister  congregation.  It  was  extraordi- 
nary, and  has  had  no  successor.  Because  side  by  side  with  the 
elders  of  this  mother  church  in  Jerusalem  sat  the  Apostles  of 
our  Lord,  This  gave  an  inimitable,  and  in  a  certain  sense  an 
ecumenical,  character  to  the  body  and  its  proceedings ;  for  even 
though  we  should  suppose  that  the  Apostles  took  their  seats  in 
such  an  assembly  as  elders,^  we  cannot  believe  that  here  or  else- 
where they  could  lay  aside  their  apostolic  wisdom  and  mission. 
It  must  still  have  been  the  Apostles  that  sat  as  elders.  Their 
voice  must  always  be  that  of  the  chosen  Twelve,  taught  and 
trained  by  the  Son  of  Man,  baptized  with  his  Spirit  of  truth,  and 
sent  forth  as  his  inspired  teachers  to  all  the  world. 

Moreover,  the  decrees  of  this  council  of  "the  Apostles  and 
elders  which  were  at  Jerusalem"  were  of  such  general  impor- 
tance and  authority  as  to  be  delivered  by  Paul  and  Silas,  on  their 
missionary  journey,  to  the  churches  in  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor.* 

The  fact  of  practical  moment  is  that  the  council  in  Jerusalem, 
while  not  classifiable  with  any  of  the  numberless  subsequent 
church  courts  and  conferences,  is  a  worthy  model  for  them  all. 
Brotherliness,  Christian  expediency,  fidelity  to  the  truth,  con- 
joined with  a  sensible  and  sympathetic  consideration  of  the  cir- 


*l  Cor.  viii.  i-8.        *i  Pet.  v.  i ;  2  John  i ;  3  John  i.        'Acts  xvi.  4. 
23 


354  Christianity  as  Organised 

ciimstances  to  which  they  must  be  applied — such  were  its  conspic- 
uous notes.  And  the  effect  of  its  action  in  the  city  of  Antioch 
was  joy  and  upbuilding,  in  the  place  of  a  threatening  spirit  of 
dissension  and  schism. 

.As  might  have  been  expected,  we  also  find  various  references 
in  the  New  Testament  to  the  local  council,  or  business  meeting 
of  the  congregation.  Such  a  meeting  is  referred  to  in  the  words 
of  our  Lord,  when  he  says,  "Tell  it  to  the  church ;"  in  the  story 
of  the  election  of  Matthias  to  the  apostleship  in  the  Upper 
Room  ;*  and  even  in  such  a  proposal  as  that  of  Paul  to  the  Corin- 
thians with  respect  to  the  conveyance  of  their  contributions  to 
the  needy  Christians  in  Jerusalem — "whomsoever  ye  shall  ap- 
prove by  letters,  them  will  I  send."^  In  a  word,  wherever  a  board 
of  elders  might  sit  in  consultation,  or  a  meeting  of  all  the  breth- 
ren be  held  for  deliberation  on  any  matter,  there  was  the  con- 
ciliar  principle  in  practical  Christian  expression. 

2.  Early  Inter-Congregational  Councils. 

A  good  many  years  elapsed,  however,  before  different  congre- 
gations began  to  unite  in  a  single  deliberative  assembly  composed 
of  representatives  of  each,  and  thus  to  form  an  inter-congrega- 
tional council.  At  first  a  council  of  this  kind  included  very  few 
congregations,  and  seems  to  have  been  marked  by  no  very  formal 
method  of  procedure.  Afterwards  it  represented  a  wider  territo- 
ry, and  was  somewhat  more  numerously  attended.  Then,  ere 
long,  appeared  the  provincial,  and  a  century  later  the  General,  or 
Ecumenical,  Council.  And  it  is  this  course  of  organific  develop- 
ment— the  gradual  lengthening  of  the  conciliar  bond  of  Chris- 
tian unity — that  we  have  now  for  a  little  while  to  follow. 

Leaving  out  of  view,  then,  the  council  in  Jerusalem,  as  an  ex- 
traordinary assembly, 

( 1 )  There  is,  as  just  said,  the  local,  or  congregational,  council. 

(2)  Then,  passing  on  from  the  New  Testament  age,  we  meet 
with  the  case  of  a  congregation,  in  some  emergency  or  time  of 

'Acts  i.  15-26.  "i  Cor.  xvi.  3. 


Unity:  The  Council  355 

special  need,  asking  that  delegates  from  sister  congregations 
come  to  its  help  with  advice  or  other  service. 

Such  a  case  may  be  illustrated  by  the  Occasional  Councils  of 
the  Congregational  churches  of  our  own  day.  Here,  when  a 
church  desires  the  ordination  or  the  installation  of  a  minister,  or 
feels  its  need  of  adv'ice  concerning  such  a  matter  as  internal  dis- 
sensions or  as  accusation  made  against  its  pastor,  it  requests  pas- 
tors and  delegates  from  certain  neighboring  churches  to  assist  it 
by  ordaining  or  installing  the  chosen  minister,  or  by  conferring 
with  it  on  the  matter  under  consideration  and  giving  suitable 
counsel.^ 

Of  this  simplest  form  of  the  intercongregational  council,  some 
indications  may  be  seen  in  the  second  century.  By  the  middle 
of  this  century  it  was  in  some  localities  the  rule,  as  we  have  al- 
ready learned  in  another  connection,  that  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in 
the  pastorate  of  a  church  consisting  of  fewer  than  twelve  fami- 
lies, the  church  should  call  for  three  representatives  of  sister 
congregations  to  unite  with  it  in  a  congregational  meeting  for 
the  election  of  a  pastor.^  Indeed,  in  the  third  century  it  became 
a  custom  that  all  congregations,  the  strong  as  well  as  the  feeble, 
should  adopt  a  similar  course;  and  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
fourth  century  it  appears  not  simply  as  a  custom  but  as  a  uni- 
versal law.  For  what  else  was  the  canon  of  the  Council  of  Nice 
respecting  the  ordination  of  bishops?' 

Of  like  character  probably — one  congregation  calling  another 
to  its  assistance — were  some  of  the  earlier  councils  for  the 
suppression  of  Montanism.  Some  of  these,  in  fact,  seem  to  have 
been  simply  incidental  meetings  between  one  congregation  and 
certain  members  of  another.  At  least  an  instance  is  recorded  of 
a  presbyter  who,  together  with  a  fellow-presbyter,  being  in  An- 
cyra,  a  chief  city  of  Galatia,  and  finding  the  Christians  there 

^See  p.  384.  "Sources  of  Apostolic  Canons  (E.  T.),  p.  8. 

*"It  is  by  all  means  proper  that  a  bishop  should  be  appointed  by  all  the 
bishops  in  the  province;  but  should  this  be  difficult,  either  on  account  of 
urgent  necessity  or  because  of  distance,  three  at  least  should  meet  together 
and  the  suffrages  of  the  absent  [bishops]  also  being  given  and  communicated 
in  writing,  then  the  ordination  shall  take  place."     (Can.  iv.) 


35^  Christianity  as  Organised 

much  agitated  over  this  "novelty"  of  Montanism,  discussed  the 
question  before  them  many  days,  so  that  "the  church  rejoiced 
and  was  strengthened  in  the  truth ;"  and  the  two  presbyters  were 
requested  by  "the  presbyters  of  the  place"  to  Vx^rite  a  record  of 
what  had  been  said  and  to  leave  it  with  the  church.*  What  then 
have  we  here?  A  Christian  congregation,  two  presbyters  from 
another  congregation  "happening"  to  be  with  them,  discussions 
day  after  day  on  vital  points  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  a  record 
of  the  visiting  presbyters'  teachings  and  injunctions  requested — 
here,  in  its  crudest  germinal  form,  was  an  inter-congregational 
conference,  synod,  council. 

(3)  Next  we  notice  the  gathering  of  representatives  from  a 
region  of  country,  larger  or  smaller  in  extent — such,  in  some  in- 
stances, as  might  afterwards  constitute  the  territory  of  a  whole 
patriarchate — to  deliberate  upon  some  perplexing  question  of 
general  concernment.  Here  appear  the  more  prominent  councils 
that  were  convened  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  with 
reference,  as  in  the  case  of  those  held  earlier  and  less  frequently, 
to  the  spread  of  Montanism.  And,  in  truth,  they  were  apparently 
much  needed.  It  was  under  stress  of  no  little  excitement  and 
danger  that  they  met.^ 

To  protect  the  Church,  then,  against  the  multiplying  excesses 
of  Montanism,  these  Christian  synods  were  called  together.' 
As  to  the  character  of  their  members,  or  the  particular  cities  in 
which  they  were  held,  no  record  remains.  In  all  probability  they 
were  neither  formally  constituted  nor  numerously  attended. 

There  was  another  question  that  seriously  disturbed  the  peace 
of  the  early  Church,  which  occasioned  the  calling  of  similar 
though  much  larger  councils.  It  was  a  question  of  ritual  ob- 
servance: Shall  the  Christian  Passover  (or  Easter  festival,  as 
it  was  infelicitously  named  by  our  English  forefathers)  be  cele- 

^Eusebius,  H.  E.,  V.  xvi.  4.  "See  pp.  547,  548. 

'"For  the  faithful  in  Asia  met  often  in  many  places  throughout  Asia  to 
consider  this  matter,  and  examined  the  novel  utterances  and  pronounced 
them  profane,  and  rejected  the  heresy;  and  thus  these  persons  were  expelled 
from  the  Church  and  debarred  from  the  communion."  (Eusebius,  H.  E., 
V.  xvi.  10.) 


Unity:  The  Council  357 

brated  on  the  day  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  the  fourteenth  of 
the  month  Nisan,  no  matter  on  what  day  of  the  week  this  date 
may  fall?  or  shall  the  death  of  Jesus  always  be  celebrated  on  a 
Friday,  the  day  of  the  week  on  which  it  occurred,  and  his  resur- 
rection on  the  following  Sunday? 

In  the  churches  of  Asia  it  was  customary  to  observe  the  day 
of  the  Jewish  Passover.  On  the  fourteenth  of  Nisan,  according- 
ly, they  kept  a  fast,  and  in  the  evening  partook  of  a  love  feast 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  in  commemoration  of  the  redemptive  Sac- 
rifice. That  was  their  Christian  Passover.  In  this  custom  the 
emphasis  was  placed  upon  the  sacrificial  death  of  Christ.  But 
outside  Asia  Minor  the  churches  had  chosen  to  celebrate  the 
death  of  Christ  on  a  Friday,  with  a  fast  that  was  kept  till  the 
following  Sunday,  when  it  was  followed  by  the  festal  rejoicing 
appropriate  to  the  day  of  the  Resurrection.  Here  the  emphasis 
was  placed  not  upon  the  crucifixion,  but  upon  the  fact  that  the 
Crucified  One  had  risen  triumphantly  from  the  dead.^ 

It  was  not  a  vital  question.  Iren?eus,  the  peacemaker,  was 
right  in  his  appeal  to  the  contending  parties:  "Whence  these 
schisms  ?  We  keep  the  feasts,  but  in  the  leaven  of  malice  by  tear- 
ing the  Church  of  God,  and  observing  what  is  outward  in  order 
to  reject  what  is  better,  faith  and  charity."  Nevertheless  the 
proper  ritual  observance  of  the  supreme  facts  of  the  Christian 
revelation  was  involved  in  the  controversy;  and  through  the  dif- 
ference of  practice  that  prevailed  among  the  churches,  one  Chris- 
tian community  might  be  fasting  and  lamenting  at  the  Cross 
while  another  was  singing  hymns  of  triumphant  joy  over  the 
Saviour's  conquest  of  death.  It  did  not  seem  fitting  that  such 
contrary  scenes  should  be  permitted  to  occur  in  the  Catholic 
Church. 

But  how  might  the  disorder  be  rectified?  The  whole  Chris- 
tian world  was  agitated  by  the  controversy ;  and  for  its  settlement 
there  were  held,  in  Palestine,  Ephesus,  Gaul,  Rome,  Corinth,  and 

^"The  gist  of  the  paschal  controversy  was  whether  the  Jewish  paschal  day 
(be  it  a  Friday  or  not),  or  the  Christian  Sunday,  should  control  the  idea 
and  time  of  the  entire  festival."     (Schaff,  "Church  History,"  Vol.  II.,  212.) 


358  Christianity  as  Organi.:;ed 

other  places,  councils  of  the  churches' — though  with  no  great 
success. 

In  Greece,  early  in  the  third  century,  similar  councils  were 
held  with  frequency  if  not  with  regularity." 

(4)  More  regularly  held  but  relatively  narrow,  of  course,  in 
their  range  of  representation  and  influence,  were  the  diocesan 
councils.  These  were  convened  by  the  ordinary  bishop,  for  con- 
sultation with  the  clergy  of  his  episcopal  district,  or  diocese. 

(5)  What  of  the  provincial  councils?  These  came  naturally 
and  reasonably,  together  with  the  office  of  provincial,  or  metro- 
politan, bishop. 

In  the  third  century  the  ecclesiastical  leader  most  prominent 
in  the  convening  of  such  synods  was  Cyprian  of  Carthage ;  and  a 
prominent  subject  of  discussion  was  that  of  rebaptism  :  Shall  a 
person  who  was  baptized  by  a  heretic,  though  according  to  the 
regular  Trinitarian  formula,  and  is  now  seeking  admission  into 
the  Catholic  Church,  be  received  without  rebaptism?  On  the 
affirmative  side  of  the  question  stood  Rome ;  on  the  negative  side, 
Carthage.    And  the  finally  prevalent  party  was  Rome. 

3.  These  Provincial  Councils  Were  Representative  Bodies. 
Let  it  be  noted  that  during  the  first  century  and  a  half  of  their 
history  the  post-apostolic  councils  seem  to  have  been  composed 
chiefly  of  bishops.  But  together  with  the  bishops  tliere  sat,  cer- 
tainly in  some  cases,  presbyters,  deacons,  and  chosen  laymen.'' 

^Hefele,  "History  of  the  Christian  Councils,"  Bk.  I.,  sec.  2. 

'"'Besides,  throughout  the  provinces  of  Greece,  there  are  held  in  definite 
localities  those  councils  gathered  out  of  the  universal  churches,  by  whose 
means  not  only  all  the  deeper  questions  are  handled  for  the  common  benefit, 
but  the  actual  representation  of  the  whole  Christian  name  is  celebrated  with 
great  veneration."     (Tertullian,  "On  Fasting,"  13.) 

"'Pastors  [bishops]  of  the  churches  from  all  directions  made  haste  to 
assemble  at  Antioch,  as  against  a  despoiler  of  the  flock  of  Christ.  Of  these 
the  most  eminent  were  Firmilianus,  bishop  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  the 
brothers  Gregory.  ...  If  any  should  count  them  up,  he  could  not  fail 
to  note  a  great  many  others,  besides  presbyters  and  deacons,  who  were  F.t 
that  time  assembled  for  the  same  cause  in  the  above-mentioned  city."  (Euse- 
bius,  H.  E.,  VII.,  xxvii.,  xxviii.) 

"The  Acts   [of  the  Council  of  Elvira,  much  more  t1ian  an  ordinary  pro- 


Unity:  The  Council  359 

Besides,  their  sessions  were  held  apparently  in  the  presence  of 
any  church  members  who  might  choose  to  attend.  They  were 
representative  bodies,  not  yet  withdrawn  in  hierarchic  separa- 
tion from  the  people,  but  speaking  the  mind  of  the  Church  and 
acting  in  its  name. 

As  to  influence,  they  were  doubtless  powerful.  As  to  author- 
ity, strictly  speaking,  they  exercised  none.  Their  decisions, 
though  often  carrying,  as  may  be  supposed,  a  determinative  moral 
weight,  were  not  mandatory  but  advisory  only.  No  coerci\'e 
measures  were  employed  to  secure  obedience,^  Tn  fact,  according 
to  the  Cyprianic  doctrine,  it  could  not  be  done ;  inasmuch  as  every 
bishop,  even  the  least  competent  local  pastor,  with  the  smallest  con- 
gregation of  them  all,  was  free  from  ecclesiastical  authority  (as 
free,  for  example,  as  a  modern  Congregational  or  Baptist  church) 
and  answerable  only  to  the  Chief  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  absence  of  any  formal  enactment 
of  interchurch  law  during  these  early  centuries,  the  churches 
were  governed  to  a  large  extent  by  the  unwritten  law  of  Custom. 

Let  us  think  of  this  for  a  moment.  Already  in  the  Apostolic 
Epistles  we  find  references  to  the  custom  of  the  churches  gener- 
ally as  an  influential  consideration  in  determining  the  practice 
of  any  particular  church:  "But  if  any  man  seemeth  to  be  con- 
tentious, we  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the  churches  of  God."^ 
So  in  the  post-apostolic  age.  Accordingly  the  question  before 
the  councils  w^as :  What  have  the  Christian  congregations  gener- 
ally believed?  what  rites  of  worship  have  they  observed?  what 

vincial  council  and  held  as  late  as  the  year  305]  also  mention  twenty-four 
priests,  and  say  that  they  were  seated  at  the  Synod  like  the  bishops,  while 
the  deacons  and  laity  stood  up."  (Hefele,  "History  of  the  Christian  Coun- 
cils," Bk.  I.,  p.  132.) 

^"The  result  of  the  deliberations  of  such  a  conference  was  expressed  some- 
times in  a  resolution,  sometimes  in  a  letter  addressed  to  other  churches.  It 
was  the  rule  for  such  letters  to  be  received  with  respect;  for  the  sense  of 
brotherhood  was  strong  and  the  causes  of  alienation  were  few.  But  so  far 
from  such  letters  having  any  binding  force  on  other  churches,  not  even  the 
resolutions  of  a  conference  were  binding  on  a  dissentient  minority  of  its  mem- 
bers."    (Hatch,  "Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  pp.  170,  171.) 

"i  Cor.  xi.  16. 


360  Christianity  as  Organised 

forms  of  discipline  have  they  followed?  That  is  the  point  on 
which  judgment  was  to  be  pronounced.  How  has  it  been  hereto- 
fore ?  rather  than,  How  shall  zee  make  it  to  be  ?' 

A  good  illustration  may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament Canon,  Who  selected  the  twenty-seven  writings  that 
should  thenceforth  be  accepted  in  the  Church  as  given  by  divine 
inspiration  so  as  to  constitute  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant, and  when  was  it  done?  The  churches  did  it — the  people, 
the  Christian  communities,  together  with  and  under  the  guidance 
of  their  pastors,  theologians,  and  teachers;  and  it  was  accom- 
plished through  the  slow  course  of  three  centuries.  Or,  if  one 
be  pleased  so  to  express  it,  the  New  Testament  "canonized  itself.'' 
True,  certain  provincial  councils — though  never  a  General  Coun- 
cil— took  action  on  the  question.  The  most  notable  of  these  met 
in  the  city  of  Carthage  in  the  year  397.  But  it  was  not  in  the  mind 
of  this  Council  of  Carthage  to  declare  that,  having  thoroughly 
examined  the  claims  of  the  various  Christian  writings,  or  having 
received  some  special  illumination  from  on  high,  it  had  decided, 
as  a  matter  of  its  own  judgment,  that  the  twenty-seven  books 
which  it  had  chosen  out,  and  these  only,  were  to  be  taken  as  New 
Testament  Scripture.  The  Council  only  enumerated  in  its  canon 
the  books  which  the  Church  had  already  fixed  upon  practically  as 
divinely  inspired  and  authoritative.  It  registered  the  gradually 
formed  selective  Christian  judgment.^ 

So,  then,  acquiescence  in  that  unwritten  law  which  in  all  ages 
has  played  so  powerful  a  part  in  the  regulation  of  human  con- 
duct, and  which  we  need  but  open  our  eyes  to  observe  in  its  in- 
fluence upon  standards  of  living,  social  forms,  modes  of  speech, 
religious  beliefs  and  observances,  in  communities  and  organized 
societies  of  the  present  day — acquiescence  in  the  decisions  of  this 

^Even  Pope  Leo  XIII.  is  reported  to  have  said  concerning  the  dogma  of 
papal  infallibility :  "The  truth  is  not  in  me  but  in  the  Church."  Which  seems 
to  mean  that  it  was  only  what  was  believed  and  taught  generally  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  as  set  forth  by  her  representative  scholars,  theo- 
logians, and  others,  that  he  would  ever  declare  ex  cathedra  to  be  true  in  doc- 
trine or  morals. 

"Moore,  "The  New  Testament  in  the  Christian  Church,"  pp.  26,  159-163. 


Unity:  The  Council  361 

same  pervasive  spirit  of  Custom  was  the  nearest  approach  that 
had  yet  been  made  to  general  ecclesiastic  legislation. 

Thus  the  external  unifying  of  the  Church  went  on.  Bishops' 
councils  and  the  contagion  of  custom  were  giving  form  to  that 
inner  unity  of  the  spirit  which  the  Christian  people  must  needs 
have  in  Christ  the  Lord.  Thus  the  Church,  with  all  its  faults, 
became  consciously  catholic,  more  and  more  catholic ;  a  great 
spiritual  commonwealth ;  an  ecclesiastical  republic ;  its  stronger 
communities  helping  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  wavering  and 
the  weak;  strengthening  itself  against  divisive  forces  in  faith 
and  polity ;  commanding  the  respect  of  the  Empire  under  whose 
government,  often  as  yet  antagonistic,  it  had  arisen  and  was  liv- 
ing its  aggressive  life. 

But  it  was  not  an  intercongregational  organization.  Some- 
what less  than  even  a  federation,  it  was  an  informal  but  vital  and 
effective  catholic  alliance  of  the  churches;  and  it  has  had  no 
worthy  successor  thus  far  in  Christian  history. 

4.  The  Ecumenical  Councils. 

(6)  \\'hether,  in  case  of  Christianity's  keeping  aloof  from  all 
alliance  with  the  State,  a  strictly  ecumenical  and  authoritative 
council  of  the  Christian  Churches  would  ever  have  been  held,  is 
but  a  speculative  question.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  any 
process  of  development  that  may  have  begun  in  this  direction 
was  quickly  completed  by  the  Imperial  "commandment  and  will." 
The  first  Christian  emperor  did  it.  In  A.D.  325  was  convoked 
his  Council  of  Nice. 

Not  unreasonably  may  it  be  supposed  tliat  Constantine's  main 
motive  in  calling  together  this  august  synod  was  the  unity  of  the 
Roman  Empire.     For  he  was  more  politician  than  Christian.' 

Manifestly  in  the  administration  of  any  national  government 

^"With  the  ardent  desire  for  enforcing  unanimity  on  those  whom  he  was 
now  called  to  govern,  he  combined  a  vague  but  profound  reverence  for  the 
character  and  powers  of  the  heads  of  the  Christian  community.  From  the 
union  of  these  two  feelings  sprang  (as  he  himself  tells  us,  'by  a  divine  in- 
spiration') the  first  idea  of  convening  a  Council  of  the  representatives  of  the 
whole  Church."     (Stanley,  "Hist,  of  the  Eastern  Church,"  p.  177) 


362  CJiristianity  as  Organised 

the  national  unity  must  be  a  prime  object.  Hence  the  sovereign's 
patronage  of  an  estabhshed  rehgion,  his  deprecation  of  sects,  his 
liigh-handed  persecution  of  dissent  with  dungeon,  sword,  and 
flame.  It  is  not  to  be  assumed — whether  he  be  a  Louis  XIV.,  a 
Henry  VIII.,  or  a  Peter  the  Great — that  personally  he  cares  more 
for  one  form  of  religious  faith  than  for  another.  He  may  or 
may  not :  but  in  either  case  his  ultimate  aim  is  probalDly  not  the 
interests  of  any  particular  religion,  but  the  strength  and  perpe- 
tuity of  the  State,  and  especially,  it  may  be.  of  his  own  royal 
house.  It  is  his  will  that  the  Church,  through  uniformity  of 
creed  and  usage,  should  help  to  consolidate  the  nation,  and  not, 
through  parties  and  schisms  and  variant  polities,  tend  to  loosen 
the  bonds  of  national  unity  and  peace. 

Now  of  this  purpose  to  exploit  the  religious  faith  and  prac- 
tices of  the  people  in  the  interest  of  national  solidarity,  the  Roman 
Empire  offers  one  among  many  instructive  examples.  True,  the 
various  tribal  cults  were  not  prohibited.  There  were  excellent 
political  reasons  why  they  should  be  tolerated.  But,  moreover, 
there  was  a  religion  that  Rome  did  attempt  to  make  universal : 
she  attempted  to  universalize  the  ''worship  of  the  divine  majesty 
of  Rome"  in  the  person  of  the  Emperor.  In  all  the  provinces, 
even  unto  the  remotest  districts,  all  men  must  bow  down  at  this 
shrine  and  adore  this  god.  Thus  would  the  sinews  of  the  na- 
tional life  be  everywhere  strengthened.^ 

But  meantime  Christianity  had  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  now 
for  a  long  time  had  been  contending  with  paganism  in  all  its 
forms  for  mastery  in  the  Empire.  One  or  the  other  the  Imperial 
government  might  naturally  enough  feel  committed  to  protect, 
favor,  and  render  universally  prevalent.  Which,  then,  should  it 
be?  Constantine  chose  Christianity — as  some  one  has  said,  half 
convinced  of  its  truth  and  wholly  convinced  of  its  political  ex- 
pediency— and  was  seeking  to  make  it  the  sole  religion  of  the 
Roman  people. 

Yet  the  Emperor,  doubtless  to  his  sore  disappointment,  found 
Christianity  itself  torn  into  bitterly  contending  parties.     Just  at 

^Ramsay,  "St.  Paul  the  Traveler,"  pp.  134,  135. 


Unity:'  The  Council 


0"0 


this  time  it  was  divided  on  a  vital  question  of  Christian  doctrine. 
Trinitarianism  and  Arianism  were  each  claiming  to  be  the  true 
and  original  faith  of  the  Church.  To  the  mind  of  the  Emperor, 
as  civil  ruler  (whatever  may  have  been  his  personal  religious 
feeling  or  conviction),  such  a  state  of  things  was  intolerable. 
There  must  be  unity  of  creed ;  and  it  was  to  secure  this  result  that 
he  summoned  the  bishops  of  the  Church  to  meet  in  the  first  Gen- 
eral Council.' 

It  was  bishops  only  that  he  summoned.  As  many  as  three 
hundred  and  eighteen  of  them  assembled.  All,  with  probably 
eight  exceptions,  were  from  the  East,  the  seat  of  theological 
learning  and  activity.  By  no  means  perfect  either  in  mind  or  in 
character,  borne  away  in  many  instances  by  a  spirit  of  violent 
partisanship,  and  thus  far  unfit  for  the  vision  of  spiritual  truth, 
they  ma}-  nevertheless  be  taken  perhaps  as  representing  what  was 
highest  and  best  in  the  Church  of  that  age.  They  wrangled  no 
little ;  but  they  also  showed  signs  of  wisdom  and  charity,  and,  we 
may  believe,  of  providential  guidance  and  enlightenment.  Some 
of  them  were  confessors;  some  were  martyrs,  bearing  on  their 
bodies  the  marks  of  cruel  persecutions  which  they  had  suftered 
for  Christ's  sake — "living. witnesses  of  martyrdom  in  which  they 
had  shared  the  torment,  though  not  the  palm." 

The  great  Emperor,  seated  on  a  richly  gilt  throne,  opened  the 
council  with  an  exhortation  to  concord  and  unity :  "Do  not  delay, 
ministers  of  God  and  good  servants  of  our  common  Lord  and 
Saviour,  to  remove  all  grounds  of  difference  and  to  wind  up  by 
laws  of  peace  every  link  of  controversy."  "For  to  me."  he  as- 
sured them,  "far  worse  than  any  war  or  battle  is  the  civil  war  of 

^Intermediate  between  the  provincial  and  the  ecumenical  council  was  such 
a  synod  as  that  of  Aries,  in  the  South  of  Gaul.  It  was  convened  bj-  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  in  the  year  314,  and  with  special  reference  to  a  case 
in  connection  with  the  Donatist  schism.  Having  met,  however,  it  also  decided 
questions  of  more  general  interest,  such  as  the  rebaptism  of  heretics,  the 
observance  of  Easter,  and  the  ordination  of  bishops.  "We  may  look  on  the 
assembly  at  Aries  as  a  general  council  of  the  West  (or  of  the  Roman  patri- 
archate). It  cannot,  however,  pass  for  an  ecumenical  council,  for  the  reason 
that  the  other  patriarchs  did  not  take  any  part  in  it,  and  indeed  were  not 
invited  to  it."     (Hefele,  "Hi3tor>'  of  the  Christian  Councils,"  Bk.  I.,  sec.  15.) 


364  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  Church  of  God."  A  number  of  bishops  had  put  into  his 
hands  letters  filled  with  accusations  against  their  fellow-bishops. 
He  burned  the  letters,  unread,  as  an  object  lesson,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  whole  assembly.  A  man  of  war  preaching  peace  to 
the  unfaithful  sons  of  peace — the  humiliating  scene  has  been 
more  than  once  repeated  since  that  day.  Nor  has  an  end  yet  come 
to  "the  civil  war  of  the  Cliurch  of  God." 

The  deliberations  of  the  council  resulted  in  a  definition  of  the 
faith  of  the  Church  as  to  the  nature  of  our  Lord.  And  the  Em- 
peror pronounced  the  decree  that  those  who  refused  to  sign  the 
orthodox  creed  should  be  banished,  that  the  books  of  Arius 
should  be  burned,  and  that  tlic  penalty  of  reading  tlicm  should 
be  death.  For  such,  alas !  was  a  part  of  the  method  of  this  man 
of  war  and  preacher  of  peace  for  putting  an  end  to  the  existing 
civil  war  of  the  Church  of  God.  Let  us  gladly  recall  that  it  was 
no  part  of  the  method  of  the  man  whose  name  stands  more  nota- 
ble than  any  other  as  representative  of  the  doctrinal  definition  of 
the  Council;  for  "it  is  proof,"  said  the  great  Athanasius,  "that 
men  have  no  confidence  in  their  own  faith  when  they  use  force 
and  compel  unwilling  men  to  think  as  they  do." 

In  addition  to  this  fundamental  question  in  doctrine,  another 
cause  of  widespread  division  was  dealt  with  at  Nice.  This  was 
the  Easter  controversy,  which,  after  liaving  persisted  more  than 
a  hundred  years,  had  not  yet  been  laid  to  rest — certain  churches 
still  celebrating  the  Christian  redemption  on  one  day  and  the  rest 
on  another.  But- now  "the  great  and  holy  Synod"  spoke  wnth 
the  voice  of  authority,  and  enacted  the  rule  that  the  Sunday  im- 
mediately following  the  full  moon  on  or  next  after  the  vernal 
equinox  should  be  observed  as  the  Christian  paschal  day.  And 
it  is  this  rule  that  has  given  direction  to  the  "Easter"  customs  of 
Christendom  from  that  time  to  the  present. 

There  was  also  a  canon — namely,  the  Fifth — that  might  be 
specially  noted  as  illustrative  of  the  legislative  efforts  which  were 
making  for  the  unification  of  the  churches.  It  read  thus :  "Con- 
cerning those,  whether  of  the  clergy  or  of  the  laity,  who  have 
been  excommunicated  in  the  several  provinces,  let  the  provision 


Unity:  The  Council  365 

of  the  canon  be  observed  by  the  bishop  which  provides  that  per- 
sons cast  out  by  some  be  not  readmitted  by  others.  Nevertlieless 
incpiiry  should  be  made  whether  they  have  been  excommunicated 
by  captiousness  or  contentiousness,  or  any  such  Hke  ungracious 
disposition  in  the  bishop."  And  then  follows  a  provision  for 
the  holding  of  two  semiannual  sessions  of  the  provincial  council, 
one  in  the  spring  and  the  otlier  in  the  fall,  for  the  consideration 
of  such  cases. 

How  had  it  been  in  the  earlier  time?  A  church  member, 
whether  minister  or  layman,  might  be  expelled  from  a  particular 
congregation,  and  received  into  the  fellowship  of  some  other 
congregation.^  Thus  the  idea  of  the  separateness  and  independ- 
ence of  the  churches,  rather  than  that  of  their  oneness  and  inter- 
dependence, was  encouraged.  But  there  was  an  increasing  sense 
of  unfitness  in  this  state  of  things,  which  sentiment  crystallized 
into  this  prohibitory  canon.  Expulsion  from  any  local  church 
must  be  regarded  as  expulsion  from  the  universal  Church.  Not 
separateness  but  oneness,  not  independence  but  interdependence, 
was  emphasized. 

And  if  complaint  should  be  made  that  this  law  might  work 
injustice  to  the  excommunicated  person,  the  reply  would  be  that 
the  very  contrary  was  true.  Because  such  a  person  could  now 
have  liis  case  reviewed  by  a  more  competent  tribunal,  free  from 
local  disturbing  influences  and  prejudices — even  by  a  provincial 
council.  To  belong  to  the  meanest  village  in  the  Roman  Empire 
was  to  belong  to  the  Empire :  similarly  to  belong  to  the  feeblest 
congregation  in  the  Christian  Church  was  to  belong  to  the  Church. 
It  was  a  privilege  and  an  honor;  and  it  was  the  law.  Let  the 
idea  of  the  local  brotherhood  be  more  perfectly  fulfilled  in  the 
idea  of  the  universal  brotherhood — to  be  or  not  to  be  a  member 

^"If  he  had  been  expelled  for  a  moral  offense,  no  doubt  the  causes  which 
led  to  his  expulsion  by  one  community  would  prevent  his  reception  by  an- 
other. But  where  the  ground  of  expulsion  had  been  the  holding  of  peculiar 
opinions,  or  the  breach  of  a  local  by-law,  it  might  be  possible  to  find  some 
other  community  which  would  ignore  the  one  or  condone  the  other."  (Hatch, 
"Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,"  p.  176.) 


366  Christianity  as  Organized 

of  a  church  is  to  be  or  not  to  be  a  member  of  tlic  Church.     Such 
seems  to  have  been  the  spirit  of  the  law. 

5.  Ecumenical  Councils  Subsequent  to  the  First. 

After  this  first  of  the  General  Councils,  six  others,  acknowl- 
edged as  such  by  both  the  Roman  and  the  Eastern  Church,  were 
held:  at  Constantinople  (381),  at  Ephesus  (431),  at  Chalcedon 
(451),  two  later  ones  at  Constantinople,  and  the  last,  like  the 
first,  at  Nice  (787).  These  all,  it  will  be  noticed,  were  held  in 
the  East.  Not  only  so,  but  in  none  of  them  was  the  West  pro- 
portionately, or  in  any  full  and  proper  sense,  represented.  At 
First  Nice,  as  we  have  seen,  there  were  only  eight  Western  rep- 
resentatives;  at  Chalcedon,  with  its  five  or  six  hundred  members, 
there  were  only  fiv^ ;  and  at  First  Constantinople,  none  at  all. 

Now  we  have  also  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  Seven  were  all 
episcopal  councils,  made  up  of  bishops  only.  Presbyters  or  dea- 
cons might  attend,  take  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  exert  what 
influence  they  could ;  but  except  in  case  of  their  being  representa- 
tives of  bishops,  they  were  not  permitted  to  vote.  As  to  the 
laity,  they  were  present  neither  in  person  nor  by  representatives 
— save  as  they  were  represented  by  that  most  powerful  of  all  lay- 
men, the  Emperor  himself.  True,  they  still  had  a  vote  at  home, 
for  many  years,  in  the  election  of  their  bishops;  but  the  bishops 
when  in  council  did  not  act  in  the  name  of  the  laity,  but  "in  their 
own  names  as  successors  of  the  Apostles."  The  supreme  or- 
ganization of  Christianity  had  become  purely  prelatic. 

Were  the  Seven  Councils,  then,  real  or  only  so-called  ecumen- 
ical bodies?  So-called  rather  than  real.  The  real  ecumenical 
council  would  represent  not  merely  the  one  order  of  bishops,  and 
these  chiefly  in  one  large  field  of  the  ecclesiastic  territory.  It 
would  express,  as  far  as  any  possible  assembly  could,  the  mind 
of  the  whole  Church,  the  millions  of  laymen  as  well  as  the  thou- 
sands of  ministers,  the  collective  conscience,  experience,  and  judg- 
ment of  all  the  congregations  of  Christ  throughout  the  world. 

Such  a  representative  Council  of  organized  Christianity — when 
and  where  shall  its  meeting  be  ?    Will  the  civil  governments  liave 


Unify:  The  Council  T^6y 

to  lead  the  way  with  International  Arbitration  in  some  Parlia- 
ment of  the  Nations,  and  the  federation  of  the  Churches  wait 
upon  the  federation  of  the  States?  Are  ever-multiplying  discov- 
eries and  inventions  and  intellectual  enlightenment  to  be  used  of 
God  to  hasten  its  coming?  Far  away  in  the  silent  future,  is  it 
not  ?  We  may  indeed  think  so,  as  men  count  the  years.  But  not 
too  far  for  faith  and  hope  which  are  in  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  it  may  be  nearer  than  we  think. 

HowTver  this  may  be,  we  are  assured  that  the  Church  is  not 
heading  nowhither.  It  shall  come  into  its  kingdom  of  visible 
unity,  universality,  and  power,  though  we  know  not  when  or 
how  or  "with  what  body"  it  will  come.  And  then  shall  the  world 
also  believe  in  the  divine  Apostleship  of  Jesus — even  as  he  prayed 
under  the  solemn  shadow  of  the  cross  that  it  should  be. 

6.  Dependence  of  These  Councils  on  the  Emperor. 
A  word  of  emphasis  on  a  fact  alluded  to  a  moment  ago  with 
respect  to  the  supreme  organization  of  Christianity.  When  this 
organization  is  described  as  purely  prelatic,  there  is  a  certain 
grand  exception  that  ought,  for  the  whole  truth's  sake,  to  be 
made.  Higher  in  ecclesiastic  power  than  even  the  bisliop  of 
Rome  was  a  succession  of  laymen — the  Roman  emperors.  The 
ecumenical  councils  were  all  convoked  by  imperial  authoritv  and 
presided  over,  except  in  two  cases,  by  the  emperor  in  the  person  of 
his  commissioners  (he  himself  being  sometimes  present) — though 
patriarchs,  and  their  representatives,  and  especially  the  legates  of 
the  bishop  of  Rome,  also  took  part  in  the  presidency.  Their  de- 
crees were  signed  by  the  emperor.  And  their  expenses  were  paid 
not  by  the  Church  but  out  of  the  public  treasury.'  For  the  Em- 
pire not  only  included  territorially  the  Christian  world,  but  also 
combined  a  munificent  patronage  with  the  exercise  of  a  large  au- 
thority, in  its  relation  to  the  Church.  The  idea  still  survives  in 
the  Church  of  England,  which  officially  declares  that  "General 
Councils  may  not  be  gathered  together  without  the  command- 
ment and  will  of  Princes."* 

*Schaff,  Church  History,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  .^35-337.       ^Articles  of  Religion,  xxi. 


36S  Christianity  as  Organised 

Verily  it  is  not  thus  that  we  should  have  been  glad,  in  tracing 
the  course  of  the  organizing  of  Christianity,  to  see  the  Church 
of  the  New  Covenant  maintain  its  unity  and  fulfill  its  mission. 
Why  should  our  Lord  have  permitted  his  kingdom  in  its  outward 
and  organized  form,  allying  itself  with  the  magistrate's  scepter 
and  availing  itself  of  his  sword,  to  become  so  largely  a  kingdom 
of  this  world?  We  cannot  tell,  except  so  far  as  we  have  learned 
to  "see  in  a  mirror  darkly." 

Neither  can  we  tell  why  grave  doctrinal  errors  should  be  per- 
mitted to  creep  into  the  Church  and  climb  to  places  of  age-long 
power.  Nor  can  we  tell  why  the  earth  itself,  on  which  the  whole 
vast  result  of  human  life  is  to  be  achieved,  should  have  such 
wide  frozen  zones,  and  so  many  arid  miles  of  gravel  and  sand, 
and  such  persistently  recurring  earthquakes,  and  the  ever-present 
terror  of  our  million  million  microscopic  enemies  in  water  and 
air.  Such  problems  in  their  entirety — who  would  dream  of  solv- 
ing them?    Let  them  await  their  time. 

But  we  may  know  that,  with  this  same  earth  and  this  same 
Church,  God  is  working  out  his  great  redeeming  purpose  through 
the  ages.  We  may  know  that  men,  who  are  not  mechanical  prod- 
ucts but  free  beings,  whose  highest  perfection  is  perfection  of 
character,  must  be  divinely  dealt  with  as  such.  We  may  know 
beyond  a  doubt  that  precious  and  wide-reaching  are  the  uses  of 
struggle  and  suffering,  of  search  for  truth,  of  difficult  decisions, 
of  conflict  with  evil — "the  moral  uses  of  dark  things."  Alike  in 
the  light  of  science,  of  personal  experience,  and  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  may  learn  that  both  for  individuals  and  for  socie- 
ties the  condition  of  progress  is  labor,  self-denial,  overcoming. 

Surely,  then,  it  is  believable  that  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God 
may  be  illustrated  in  the  maintenance  of  his  living  truth  and  the 
perpetuation  of  his  faithful  witnesses,  amid  unceasing  conflict 
with  error  within  as  well  as  without,  rather  than  in  miraculously 
defending  his  Church,  from  first  to  last,  against  all  secularization 
and  strife. 

Meantime,  whatever  the  darkness,  the  life-giving  light  is  ever 
falling  from  the  cross  of  Christ,  the  fatherhood  of  God.  the 
heaven  of  sacrificial  love. 


Unity:  The  Council  369 

And  the  Church — it  is  not  the  organization  or  ecclesiasticism 
that  men  call  by  its  name.  It  is  the  confessing-  Congregation 
against  which  the  gates  of  death  shall  not  prevail. 

With  the  Second  Council  of  Nice  the  succession  of  Councils, 
that  with  any  degree  of  appropriateness  may  be  named  ecumen- 
ical, came  to  a  close.  The  Roman  councils  that  are  so  named — 
such,  for  example,  as  the  five  Lateran  Councils,  that  of  Con- 
stance, that  of  Trent,  and  that  of  the  Vatican — are  entitled  to 
this  designation  only  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  itself  the  Church  Universal ;  for  neither  Eastern  nor  Evangel- 
ical Christianity  had  any  representation  in  them. 

7.  Doctrinal  Authority  of  Ecumenical  Councils. 

What  authority  was  ascribed  to  the  doctrinal  deliverances  of 
a  General  Council?  The  next  highest  to  Holy  Scripture,  which 
was  accepted  as  formally  and  absolutely  infallible. 

But  in  the  Church  of  Rome  the  doctrinal  infallibility  of  the 
General  Councils,  their  decisions  being  sanctioned  by  the  pope,  is 
distinctly  taught.^ 

In  Protestantism  all  doctrinal  deliverances  of  councils  are  to 
be  judged  by  the  teachings  of  Scripture.  Neither  theoretically 
nor  practically  are  they  held  infallible.  The  appeal  of  Luther  was 
first  from  the  pope  ill  informed  to  the  pope  well  informed ;  .then 
from  the  pope  to  the  Ecumenical  Council ;  then  from  the  Ecu- 
menical Council  to  the  scriptures :  "Unless  therefore  I  am  con- 
vinced by  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  or  by  clear  reasoning,  un- 

^Leo  the  Great  is  quoted  by  the  papal  historians  as  saying  that  the  decrees 
of  Chalcedon  were  made  under  the  instruction  {iiistruente)  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
Gregory  the  Great  as  professing  his  veneration  of  "the  four  first  Councils 
equally  with  the  four  Gospels,"  and  a  number  of  the  Fathers  as  sharing  such 
sentiments.  (See  Hefele,  "Hist,  of  the  Christian  Councils,"  Introd.,  sec.  8.) 
But  these  glowing  utterances  are  not  conclusive  of  the  general  mind  of  the 
early  Church  on  this  subject.  "They  were  not  held  to  be  formally  infallible, 
but  to  possess  an  authority  proportioned  to  their  universality,  to  be  capable 
of  being  amended  by  subsequent  councils  upon  better  information,  and  to 
be  subordinate  to  Scripture."  (Smith  and  Cheetham's  Diet,  of  Antiquities, 
Art.  "Council,"  C.) 
24 


Zyo  Christianity  as  Organised 

less  I  am  persuaded  by  means  of  the  passages  I  have  quoted,  and 
unless  my  conscience  is  thus  bound  by  the  Word  of  God,  I  cannot 
and  will  not  retract."  Holy  Scripture  the  final  authority,  private 
judgment  an  inalienable  right.  Here  is  the  historic  standing- 
ground  of  Protestant  Christianity.^ 

Were  it  possible  to-day  for  some  truly  ecumenical  synod  to  be 
gathered  together  at  some  designated  time  and  place,  represent- 
ing the  Christianity  of  the  whole  world,  its  doctrinal  decisions, 
like  those  of  any  local  or  denominational  assembly,  must  be 
judged  by  the  Holy  Scriptures  under  the  light  of  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  and  might  be  amended  by  some  subsecfuent  similar  as- 
sembly. 

But  the  evangelic  communions  make  far  larger  use  of  the  con- 
ciliar  idea,  recognizing  its  true  place  and  value,  than  do  the  hier- 
archic bodies.  Autocratic  authority  and  the  assumptions  of  in- 
errancy are  excluded.  The  meeting  face  to  face  of  the  wisest 
and  best ;  interchange  of  views ;  united  prayer  for  divine  wisdom ; 
the  promised  presence  of  Him  who  now  as  heretofore  is  ever 
building  and  defending  his  Congregation — these  are  the  princi- 
ples of  evangelic  deliberative  assemblies.  And  such  assemblies 
are  constituted  in  all  grades,  from  a  stewards'  meeting,  or  a  meet- 
ing for  the  election  of  a  ruling  elder,  all  the  way  up  to  a  Meth- 
odist Ecumenical  Conference,  a  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  a 
Free  Church  Council,  or  an  Evangelical  Alliance.  In  many  cases 
they  are  authorized  to  give  counsel  only ;  in  many  others,  to  enact 
laws  and  issue  commands.  They  represent,  in  various  degrees 
of  universality,  the  Church  in  its  multiform  departments  and  un- 
dertakings. They  direct  its  movements ;  they  utilize  its  resources ; 
they  protect  its  unity. 

^"And  when  they  [General  Councils]  be  gathered  together  (forasmuch  as 
they  be  an  assembly  of  men  whereof  all  be  not  governed  with  the  Spirit  and 
Word  of  God)  they  may  err,  and  sometimes  have  erred  even  in  things  per- 
taining unto  God.  Wherefore  things  ordained  by  them  as  necessary  to  sal- 
vation have  neither  strength  nor  authority,  unless  it  may  be  declared  that 
they  are  taken  out  of  Holy  Scripture."  (Thirty-Nine  Articles,  Art.  XXL, 
"On  the  Authority  of  General  Councils.")  To  the  same  effect  is  the  West- 
minster Confession,  XXXI.  2,  3. 


Part   III. 

'AUTONOMY. 


(371) 


There  is  a  singularity  which  is  the  element  of  progress ;  but  there  is  a 
catholicity  which  is  the  condition  of  permanence. — B.  F.  Westcott. 

Ecclesiasticism  has  often  put  conscience  in  deadly  peril.  But  history  has 
also  its  warning  against  the  intolerance  of  separatists. — Newman  Smyth. 

Love  your  enemy,  bless  your  haters,  said  the  Greatest  of  the  great : 
Christian  love  among  the  churches  looked  the  twin  of  heathen  hate. 

— Tcuiiysou. 

Men  are  loath  to  be  persuaded  that  they  I>ave  spent  so  much  breath  to  so 
little  purpose,  and  have  been  so  hot  and  eager  for  somewhat  which  at  last 
appears  to  be  a  matter  of  Christian  liberty. — Stilliiigflccf. 

But  what  is  left  to  men's  discretion  is  not  therefore  meant  to  be  left  to 
their  «'« discretion. — Richard  I'Vhately. 

In  vain  the  surge's  angry  shock, 

In  vain  the  drifting  sands ; 
Unharmed  upon  the  eternal  rock 

The  eternal  City  stands.  — Samuel  Johnson. 

(372) 


I. 

THE  CONGREGATIONAL  IDEA. 

We  can  imagine  all  the  Christian  congregations  of  the  world 
united  in  a  single  organization — one  world-wide,  self-governing 
communion.  But  it  would  be  simply  a  bold  venture  of  the  imag- 
ination. The  most  conspicuous  and  persistent  attempt  to  actual- 
ize the  conception  has  given  rise  to  the  chief  tragedies  of  eccle- 
siastical history.  Neither  by  force  nor  by  rational,  righteous,  and 
brotherly  methods  has  such  a  dream  been  able  to  find  fulfillment 
hitherto. 

We  can  imagine  a  national  church.  Let  it  be  without  organic 
connection  with  the  stale,  self-governing.  But  let  it  be  accepted 
with  practical  unanimity  as  representing  the  Christianity  of  the 
nation,  and  let  it  not  extend  beyond  the  national  boundaries — one 
nation,  one  church.  Such  an  ecclesiasticism  has  been  proposed 
1)y  certain  serious  inventive  minds.  But  an  example  of  it  is  not 
now  to  be  found  in  any  land.  Indeed,  in  what  age  and  under 
what  sky  has  an  example  of  it  ever  yet  appeared? 

What  we  do  see  is  a  number  of  separate  and  self-governing 
churches,  occupying  Christendom  and  penetrating  continually 
into  the  missionary  regions  beyond.  Some  of  them,  happily,  are 
Ijecoming  more  and  more  closely  assimilated  in  spirit,  teaching, 
and  labor  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  As  to  size,  the  disparity 
among  them  is  great  indeed.  There  are  those  that  number  no 
more  than  five  or  six  persons — as,  for  instance,  certain  Congrega- 
tional or  Baptist  churches — while  on  the  other  hand  the  Church 
of  Rome  reports  a  membership  of  over  two  hundred  millions. 

We  see  churches,  also,  that  have  lost  their  autonomy  by  sub- 
mitting to  the  control  of  the  state.  These  are  national  establish- 
ments— as  in  Germany,  England,  Russia — dependent  for  law  and 
government  upon  the  rulers  of  the  respective  nations  in  whose 
territories  they  are  situated/ 

*"We  distinguish  between  a  National  and  an  Established  Church;  for  the 
one  we  feel  the  utmost  reverence,  but  the  other  we  do  not  even  respect.    .    .    . 

(373) 


374  Christianity  as  Organised 

Now  it  is  this  denominational  idea  of  organized  Christianity 
that  offers  the  present  and  final  phase  of  our  subject. 

Nor,  as  a  matter  of  course,  shall  we  be  content  simply  to  bring 
the  denomination  in  which  we  are  personally  most  interested 
within  the  circle  of  observation.  Rather  let  the  radius  be  length- 
ened so  that  the  chief  organic  forms  in  which  the  various  church- 
es of  Christendom  are  facing  the  future  shall  be  included.  Thus 
at  least  may  be  avoided  the  not  uncommon  error  of  those  who 

take  the  rustic  murmur  of  their  burg 
For  the  great  wave  that  murmurs  round  the  world. 

And  so  also  may  we  get  a  better  understanding  of  that  which  is 
our  own,  and  haply  learn  to  appreciate  it  more  truly. 

It  will  be  fitting  to  begin  with  the  simplest  and  most  primitive 
of  all  the  ways  of  church  organizing — with  the  Congregational 
Idea. 

Each  church,  or  congregmtion  of  Christians,  must  govern  it- 
self and  manage  its  own  affairs,  by  a  majority  vote  of  its  mem- 
bership, independently  of  all  outside  authority  whatever.  That  is 
the  original  formative  idea  of  Congregationalism. 

Is  it  also  the  fundamental  New  Testament  idea  of  structural 
Christianity?  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  other 
organic  ideas  than  that  of  local  democratic  self-government  be- 
came dominant  in  the  second  century.  And  not  until  fifteen 
hundred  years  had  passed  did  the  congregational  polity  which, 
it  is  believed  with  good  reason,  prevailed  in  the  New  Testament 
churches,  begin  to  take  form  and  reappear.'     Its  representatives 

The  church  that  has  failed  to  make  a  nation  believing,  reverent,  and  dutiful 
to  God  may  be  an  Established  Church,  without  being  in  any  real  or  even  in  a 
tolerated  sense  national."  (Fairbairn,  "Studies  in  Religion  and  Theology,"  p.  4.) 
^"It  [congregationalismj  was  originally  a  divine  gift,  made  through  spir- 
itual guidance  of  the  New  Testament  churches  to  the  Church  of  all  time. 
It  was  a  gift  germinal  and  typical,  though  crude;  tender,  though  fresh  and 
vigorous.  It  suffered  in  the  early  centuries  an  arrest  of  development :  it  lay 
dormant  yet  vital  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord  through  many  medieval  cen- 
turies. In  the  sixteenth  centurj'  in  England  it  was  dug  out  of  its  place  of 
hiding  and  sleeping  with  the  sword  of  the  Word."  (Ladd,  "Principles  of 
Church  Polity,"  p.  338.) 


The  Congregational  Idea  375 

were  the  Anabaptists  of  the  European  Continent  and  the  Enghsh 
Separatists. 

Let  ns  give  attention  first  to  the  latter  body,  and  trace  some 
of  the  conditions  and  circumstances  in  which  its  congregations 
originated. 

I.  Original  Motive  of  the  Congregational  Churches. 

It  was  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Church  of  England  was 
an  episcopally  governed  Estabhshment.  The  Puritans,  a  strong 
and  influential  party,  were  opposed  to  episcopacy  (as  well  as  to 
Romish  dogmas  and  practices)  but  favorable  to  the  union  of 
Church  and  State — especially  favorable,  if  their  successors  of  the 
next  century  who  emigrated  to  America  may  be  taken  as  typical, 
to  the  Church's  getting  control  of  the  State.  All  baptized  per- 
sons were  regarded  (save  in  the  rare  case  of  excommunication) 
as  church  members — which,  indeed,  was  equally  the  case  on  the 
Continent.  The  sovereign,  without  any  reference  whatever  to 
his  moral  or  religious  character,  must  be  not  only  a  member  of 
the  Church  but  its  supreme  ruler.  As  might,  therefore,  easily 
have  been  foreseen,  there  was  practically  no  discipline  in  moral 
conduct.  But  it  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  Christ  that  men 
should  be  enrolled  as  Christians  simply  on  the  ground  of  their 
baptism  in  infancy;  and  that  the  notorious  evil-liver,  even  "pro- 
fane atheists"  and  "scandalous  mockers,"  should  kneel  side  by 
side  at  the  Lord's  table  with  the  true,  however  imperfect,  believ- 
er. This  all-inclusive  membership  was  destructive  of  the  spirit- 
ual character  and  power  of  a  Christian  congregation.  At  least 
there  were  Englishmen  of  that  time  who  had  this  conviction. 
The  Puritans  had  it ;  and  they  looked  to  the  civil  magistrates  to 
effect  the  needed  reformation.^  There  were  others,  however,  a 
feeble  folk,  who  saw  no  remedy  for  the  prevalent  lack  of  dis- 

^It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  Puritans  were  as  much  concerned 
for  a  pure  and  evangelical  church  as  were  the  Separatists;  but  they  hoped 
and  strove  for  reform  from  within.  "They  [the  Puritans]  say,  the  time  is 
not  yet  come  to  build  the  Lord's  house  (Haggai  i.)  ;  they  must  tarry  for  the 
magistrates  and  for  Parliament  to  do  it.  They  want  the  civil  sv/ord  for- 
sooth.    .     .     .     For  his   [Christ's]   goverr.ment  and  discipline  is  wanting  (say 


Z7^  Christianity  as  Organised 

cipline  so  long  as  Church  and  State  were  united.  What  should 
they  do  ? 

Disestabhshment,  a  Hving  question  for  the  present  generation, 
was  not  dreamed  of  at  that  time.  Nevertheless  something  might 
be  done  at  once.  Those  who  believed  the  administration  of  the 
Establishment  to  be  other  than  that  of  a  true  church  of  Christ 
could  withdraw  from  it  and  form  self-governing  congregations 
of  their  own  in  which  the  word  of  God  might  be  preached,  wor- 
ship offered,  and  discipline  administered,  according  to  their  con- 
ception of  the  New  Testament  teaching.  And  this  is  what 
they  did.  These  were  the  Separatists,  who  were  afterwards 
called  Independents  (unlovely  titles,  both)  and  Congregation- 
alists. 

The  original  motive  of  Congregationalism,  then,  was  neither 
doctrinal  nor  legislative,  but  disciplinary.  It  was  distinctly  a 
moral  motive — not  a  desire  for  a  scriptural  in  place  of  an  un- 
scriptural  creed,  nor  a  scriptural  in  place  of  an  unscriptural  form 
of  government,  but  the  desire  for  a  scriptural  in  place  of  an  un- 
scriptural state  of  discipline. 

The  Separatists  did  reach  the  conclusion,  however,  in  the  rapid 
course  of  study  and  investigation,  that  the  polity  which,  chiefly 
or  wholly  for  disciplinary  purposes,  they  had  been  led  to  adopt 
was  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles. 
It  was  not — so  they  held — an  invention  of  their  own  but  a  re- 
nascence of  the  New  Testament  order. 

Another  formative  idea  of  the  ecclesiastical  government  thus 
initiated  was  that  of  the  fellowship  of  the  churches.  Though 
each  must  stand  absolutely  independent  of  all  control  by  the 

they),  but  we  keep  it  not  away."  (Browne,  "Reformation  without  Tarrying 
for  Any"  (Old  South  Leaflets),  pp.  2,  3.) 

"The  Puritan  remembered  that  the  sixteenth  century  had  seen  the  con- 
stitution, liturgy,  and  doctrinal  standards  of  the  English  Church  essentially 
altered  at  least  four  times  by  the  united  action  of  the  Sovereign  and  of 
Parliament.  .  .  .  They  constantly  hoped  that  that  which  had  been  estab- 
lished by  law  would  be  changed  by  legislative  act.  Nor  was  there,  at  first, 
anything  that  seemed  vmlikely  in  this  supposition."  (Walker,  "Creeds  and 
Platforms  of  Congregationalism,"  p.  97.) 


The  Congregational  Idea  Z77 

rest,  nevertheless  each  must  come  into  cordial  association  with 
the  rest.  This  idea,  indeed,  was  inevitable.  It  is  as  old  as  Chris- 
tianity and  as  continuous  as  the  Church  itself.  In  truth  it  is 
hardly  to  be  conceived  that  churches  of  the  same  faith  and  order 
should  exist  side  by  side  without  some  sort  of  intercommunica- 
tion and  communion.  They  must  needs  affiliate  with  one  an- 
other. 

2.  English  Congregational  History. 

The  first  advocate  and  exemplifier  of  these  views,  "the  father 
of  modern  Congregationalism,"  was  Robert  Browne  (d.  1633, 
aged  about  80).  He  was  educated  at  Cambridge  University. 
About  the  year  1580,  in  the  city  of  Norwich,  he  became  pastor 
of  what  may  be  called  the  first  Congregational  church  of  modern 
times. 

Browne  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  fanatic,  a  grievous  trou- 
bler  of  Israel  in  both  his  sayings  and  doings.  In  fact,  he  was 
a  hot-headed,  if  not  a  headstrong,  young  man,  who  embodied 
very  well  the  violent  spirit  of  the  times.  So  severely  was  he  op- 
posed by  the  Establishment  that  both  pastor  and  flock  were  fain 
to  flee  to  the  Continent.  Here,  in  the  town  of  Middleburg,  Hol- 
land, he  wrote  tracts — for  example,  "Reformation  without  Tar- 
rying for  Any" — which  were  sent  in  sheets  to  England,  and 
there  bound  and  distributed.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  how- 
ever, he  again  appears  in  England,  and  after  repeated  impris- 
onment by  the  civil  authorities  becomes  reconciled  to  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  For  the  last  forty-two  years  of  his  life  we  find 
him  holding  the  rectorship  of  the  parish  of  Achurch  cum  Thorpe. 
He  was  accused  of  much  misconduct  in  old  age ;  and  his  death 
occurred  in  a  jail  to  which  he  was  committed  for  striking  an 
officer  of  justice. 

It  was  indeed  a  difficult  career  to  explain.  But  not  so  the 
views  on  church  polity  which  were  set  forth  by  the  impulsive  and 
indiscreet  young  reformer.  These  are  entirely  sane  and  clear. 
He  taught  that  civil  magistrates  ought  not  to  exercise  any  eccle- 
siastical authority,  being  divinely  intended  to  rule  the  nation, 


3/8  Christianity  as  Organised 

and  not  the  Church;^  that  it  may  become  the  duty  of  Christ's 
followers  to  withdraw  from  existing  religious  bodies,  and  form 
congregations  of  their  own,  for  the  sake  of  pure  teaching  and 
salutary  discipline;  that  a  church  is  a  company  of  Christian  be- 
lievers united  in  one  holy  communion  by  a  willing  covenant  with 
God,  under  the  government  of  God  and  Christ;  that  all  church 
authority  is  in  Christ  the  Lord,  and  is  expressed  through  the 
action  of  the  whole  congregation;  that  the  scriptural  officers  of 
a  church  are  a  pastor,  a  teacher,  one  or  more  elders,  one  or 
more  relievers  (deacons),  and  one  or  more  "widows"  (deacon- 
esses) ;  that  different  churches  ought  to  associate  together  for 
mutual  counsel  and  guidance;  that  Christians  ought  to  watch 
over  and  reprove  each  other  as  may  be  deemed  fit,  jealously 
guarding  the  purity  of  the  Church.  Such  was  Congregation- 
alism in  the  mind  and  from  the  pen  of  its  first  pronounced  rep- 
resentative in  modern  Christianity." 

The  church  in  Holland,  however,  in  which  Browne  tried  to 
realize  his  ideal,  proved  a  disappointment.  Its  members,  exiles 
though  they  were  for  conscience'  sake,  failed  to  show  themselves 
capable  of  self-government.     There  seems  to  have  been  a  larger 

^"Go  to,  therefore,  and  the  outward  power  and  civil  forcings  let  us  leave 
to  the  magistrates;  to  rule  the  commonwealth  in  all  outward  justice  belong- 
eth  to  them;  but  let  the  Church  rule  in  spiritual  wise  and  not  in  worldly 
manner,  by  a  lively  law  preached  and  not  by  a  civil  law  written."  ("Refor- 
mation without  Tarrying  for  Any,"  p.  i6.) 

"For  a  very  full  and  spirited  account,  read  Dexter's  "Congregationalism 
as  Seen  in  Its  Literature,"  Lecture  IL  This  author  makes  no  question  of 
finding  the  true  historic  origin  of  modern  Congregationalism  in  Brownism : 
"Of  one  thing  as  a  matter  of  sober  history  there  can  be  no  doubt :  that  this 
system — which  may  as  fairly  be  called  Brownism  as  the  inductive  is  called 
the  Baconian  philosophy,  .  .  .  this-  system — which,  as  we  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  see,  was  soon  swept  aside  and  out  of  sight  by  rival  and  variant 
systems,  and  covered  with  obloquy  from  its  founder's  fate — proved  yet  to 
have  vitality  enough,  and  enough  of  adaptation  to  the  demands  of  human  life, 
to  resume  and  reassert  its  interrupted  sway;  so  that,  although  the  thought 
may  not  be  in  their  minds,  the  Independents  of  England  and  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  of  America,  more  nearly  than  any  other,  are  to-day  in  lineal 
descent  from  that  little  Norwich  church  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  years 
ago"    (p.   114). 


The  Congregational  Idea  379 

development  of  inquisition,  bickering,  and  division  among  them 
than  of  Christly  admonition  and  disciphne. 

Yet  in  England  the  idea  persisted,  and  was  modified  from  time 
to  time  by  its  advocates  in  the  direction  of  greater  practicable- 
ness.  One  of  these  modifications  was  that  of  Henry  Barrowe, 
who  died  on  the  scaffold,  a  martyr  to  his  faith,  on  April  6,  in 
the  thirty-fiftli  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign.  According  to 
Barrowe,  the  congregation  should  elect  elders  as  its  rulers,  and 
thus  govern  itself  not  directly  but  through  representatives.  Still 
it  must  stand  independent  of  all  ecclesiastical  government  except 
its  own ;  and  so  it  cannot  become  Presbyterian,  but  notwithstand- 
ing its  ruling  eldership  will  remain  congregational. 

Of  this  ecclesiological  doctrine,  which  has  been  named  after 
its  author  Barrozvism,  two  schools  developed :  the  High-Church 
(as  it  may  be  called  for  lack  of  a  better  name),  which  held  that 
the  elders  alone  ought  to  govern,  and  the  Low-Church,  which 
held  that  the  decisions  of  the  elders  must  be  confirmed  by  the 
consent  of  the  whole  congregation. 

Even  this  internal  and  local  presbyterial  oversight,  however, 
was,  in  the  eyes  of  some  Separatists,  unscriptural  and  hurtful. 
The  congregation,  they  maintained,  cannot  shift  its  responsibility 
for  government  and  discipline  upon  a  select  number  of  men, 
but  must  claim  its  own  rights  and  bear  its  own  burdens.  Christ 
said  not,  "Tell  it  to  the  elders,"  but,  "Tell  it  to  the  church ;"  and 
it  was  unbelievable  that  the  elders  are  the  church.  Accordingly 
in  the  congregation  of  John  Robinson,  "the  Pilgrim  pastor,"  at 
Leyden,  the  eldership  was  regarded  as  simply  an  office  of  coun- 
sel and  moral  influence,  not  of  rule.  The  goveriiment  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  whole  brotherhood  of  the  faithful.  In  this, 
therefore,  Robinson  and  his  people  were  more  nearly  Brownists 
than  Barrowists. 

In  England,  Congregationalism  advanced  from  its  humble  be- 
ginnings till,  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  it  rose  to  promi- 
nence and  power.  Both  the  Lord  Protector  himself  and  a  ma- 
jority of  the  leading  men  of  his  government  were  favorable  to 
its  form  of  polity.    It  was  influential,  though  far  from  dominant, 


380  Christianity  as  Organised 

in  the  Westminster  Assembly.  Its  annals  have  shone  with  not 
a  few  of  the  brightest  names  in  English  Christianity — Owen, 
Watts,  Doddridge,  Jay,  Binney,  Dale,  Joseph  Parker,  A.  M. 
Fairbairn. 

It  has  made  but  little  use  of  the  eldership.  For  many  years 
it  looked  with  little  favor  also  upon  associations  and  councils  of 
the  churches.  But  in  the  year  1832  the  "Congregational  Union 
of  England  and  Wales"  was  formed,  with  deliberative  and  ad- 
visory powers  and  with  a  Declaration  of  Faith,  adopted  in  1833. 
Its  meetings  are  held  semiannually,  and  its  influence  has  been 
promotive  of  fraternity  and  good  works. 

3.  American  Congregational  History. 

The  history  of  John  Robinson's  congregation  affords  an  in- 
teresting illustration  of  the  Congregational  idea.  It  began  three 
hundred  years  ago  as  a  "house  church"  in  the  home  of  William 
Brewster,  the  postmaster  at  Scrooby,  England.  There,  accord- 
ing to  Bradsford's  "History,"  a  company  of  Christians  "joined 
themselves  by  a  covenant  of  the  Lord  into  a  church  estate  in  the 
fellowship  of  the  gospel,  to  walk  in  all  his  ways  made  known 
or  to  be  made  known  unto  them,  according  to  their  best  en- 
deavors, whatever  it  shall  cost  them."  Of  the  three  great  ideas 
represented  by  this  covenant  of  a  despised  little  church  of  Christ 
in  the  house  of  William  Brewster,  in  the  year  1606 — obedience 
at  all  costs  to  the  will  of  God  as  it  may  be  made  known,  equality 
and  fellowship  of  Christians  in  the  Lord,  and  the  right  to  con- 
gregational self-rule — Congregationalism  has  always  stood  as  a 
conspicuous  example.  In  this  particular  case  the  Scrooby  cove- 
nanters were  soon  called  upon  to  pay  the  "costs."  They  were 
driven  by  persecution  from  their  own  land.  They  found  a 
refuge,  however,  first  at  Amsterdam  and  afterwards  at  Leyden. 
Thence,  eleven  years  later,  one  hundred  and  two  of  them,  includ- 
ing wives  and  children,  set  sail  in  the  Mayflower  for  their  stormy 
voyage  to  the  coast  of  America. 

So  it  was  from  this  Scrooby-Amsterdam-Leyden  congrega- 
tion of  John  Robinson  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  came  to  New 


The  Congregational  Idea  381 

England.  Here  the  eldership  was  exalted  into  a  ruling  office. 
It  is  true  that,  according  to  the  Cambridge  Platform,  which  was 
adopted  by  a  synod  of  New  England  churches  in  1648 — the 
Puritans  of  Massachusetts  Colony  having  meantime  become 
Congregationalists' — -the  elders  were  only  to  admit  members  ap- 
proved by  the  church,  and  to  excommunicate  members  renounced 
by  the  church."  But  it  would  seem  that  practically  in  either  case 
the  people  cooperated  little  or  not  at  all.  The  pastor  would 
sometimes  even  veto  the  votes  of  the  congregation. 

There  were  also  tendencies  toward  making  larger  use  of  as- 
sociations of  the  churches,  and  strengthening  their  power  and 
influence.  Such  proposals  were  offered  as  that  "each  ministerial 
association  make  up  an  ecclesiastical  council,  or  presbytery,  to 
hear  and  determine  all  affairs  too  mighty  for  disposal  by  a  sin- 
gle church ;"  and  such  declarations  as  that  "the  consociation  of 
churches  is  the  very  soul  and  life  of  the  Congregational  scheme, 
necessary  to  the  very  esse  as  well  as  bene  of  it." 

But  there  were  countercurrents.  These  were  well  represent- 
ed by  two  noted  and  influential  men — by  John  Wise,  "the  first 
great  American  democrat,"  a  trenchant  and  fiery  controvertist,  in 
the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  Nathaniel  Em- 
mons, a  man  of  preeminent  ability  as  preacher,  teacher,  and  the- 
ologian, a  century  later.  This  reactionary  movement  increased 
in  strength  till  the  churches  were  brought  back  substantially  to 
the  original  Congregational  idea.  In  this  they  stand  at  the  pres- 
ent day — without  an  eldership  (apart  from  the  pastor)  as  well  as 
without  authoritative  control  by  any  association  or  council  of 
churches. 

'"They  had  formerb''  professed  to  despise  the  Separatists,  but  scarcely 
had  the  shores  of  England  receded  from  their  view  when  they  felt  a  sense 
of  freedom  as  never  before,  and  this  feeling  took  a  deeper  hold  on  them 
until  they  found  themselves  no  longer  Puritans  in  the  original  sense,  but 
Separatists  pure  and  simple."  (Elson,  "History  of  the  United  States."  p.  io6.) 
.  ""The  ruling  elder's  work  is  to  join  with  the  pastor  and  teacher.  .  .  . 
I.  To  open  and  shut  the  doors  of  God's  house,  by  the  admission  of  members 
approved  by  the  church  .  .  .  and  by  excommunication  of  notorious  and 
obstinate  offenders  renounced  bv  the  church."     (Cambridafe  Platform,  VTT.  2.) 


382  Christianity  as  Organised 

To-day,  however,  both  in  British  and  in  American  Congrega- 
tionaHsm,  the  emphasis  is  laid  on  denominational  cooperation 
rather  than  local  independence.  The  need  of  united  and  harmo- 
nious action  in  matters  of  common  concernment — such  as  the  prep- 
aration of  candidates  for  the  ministry,  the  strengthening  of  fee- 
ble churches,  the  taking  up  of  work  in  neglected  fields,  the  con- 
duct of  benevolent  and  missionary  enterprises — is  more  fully 
provided  for.  Thus  the  work  of  the  representative  bodies  of  the 
Church  has  been  enlarged.  And  while  the  autonomy  of  the  lo- 
cal congregation  is  maintained,  the  larger  "autonomy  of  the  de- 
nomination," it  has  been  urged,  "should  be  the  next  step  in  the 
development  of  the  Congregational  polity.''* 

The  growth  of  this  idea  of  a  more  distinct  and  effective  de- 
nominational autonomy  is  shown  in  the  frequency  and  regularity 
of  the  meetings  of  the  general  synod,  or  council,  of  American 
Congregationalism  during  the  last  half  century,  as  compared 
with  the  previous  practice.  The  first  meeting  of  this  kind  was 
held  in  the  year  1637;  the  second,  in  1646,  with  adjourned  meet- 
ings the  two  following  years ;  the  third,  not  for  two  hundred 
years  afterwards — namely,  in  1852;  the  fourth,  in  1865.  But  in 
the  year  1871,  the  "National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States"  was  organized,  and  it  has  held 
triennial  meetings  continuously  from  that  time. 

Two  of  the  declarations  of  this  Council,  made  at  the  time  of 
its  establishment,  set  forth  in  the  clearest  possible  manner  the 
fundamental  principles  alike  of  historic  and  present-day  Congre- 
gationalism : 

They  [the  Congregational  churches  of  the  United  States,  by  delegation 
assembled]  agree  in  the  belief  that  the  right  of  government  resides  in  local 

^"It  [the  National  Council]  indorsed  radical  changes  of  polity  in  the  di- 
rection of  compactness  and  consolidation  of  Congregational  interests,  of  su- 
pervision, and  of  putting  the  direction  of  benevolent  and  missionary  work 
into  the  hands  of  representatives  of  the  churches. 

"It  indorsed  the  plan  for  a  national  Congregational  brotherhood  and  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  tv^'enty-nine  to  organize  it. 

"It  appointed  a  committee  of  nine  in  the  interests  of  more  efficient  minis- 
terial training  and  equipment."     ("The  Congregationalist,"  Oct.  26,   1907.) 


The  Congregational  Idea  383 

churches,  or  congregations  of  believers,  who  are  responsible  directly  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  one  Head  of  the  Church  Universal  and  of  all  par- 
ticular churches;  but  that  all  churches,  being  in  communion  one  with  an- 
other as  parts  of  Christ's  Catholic  Church,  have  mutual  duties  subsisting  in 
the  obligations  of  fellowship. 

The  churches,  therefore,  while  establishing  this  National  Council,  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  common  interests  and  work  of  all  the  churches,  do  main- 
tain the  scriptural  and  inalienable  right  of  each  church  to  self-government 
and  administration ;  and  this  National  Council  shall  never  exercise  legislative 
or  judicial  authority,  nor  consent  to  act  as  a  Council  of  Reference. 

4.  Principles  and  Rules  of  Congregational  Churches. 

This,  then,  is  CongregationaHsm.  It  represents  the  two  great 
complementary  conceptions  of  autonomy  and  fellowship.  Here 
is  its  distinction :  no  other  system  combines  and  embodies  these 
two  principles  in  its  organic  law. 

It  is  a  pure  democracy.  The  government,  both  legislative  and 
judicial,  is  not  only  for  the  people  but  by  them ;  and  not  indi- 
rectly through  chosen  representatives,  but  by  their  own  direct  ac- 
tion. Of  necessity,  therefore,  it  is  bodied  forth  in  thousands  of 
little  ecclesiastical  bodies,  either  widely  separated  or  side  by  side, 
each  of  which  is  democratically  self-governing.  The  opera- 
tion of  no  law  extends  beyond  the  congregation  in  which  it  is 
enacted. 

Taking  American  Congregationalism  as  the  type,  let  us  mark 
some  of  the  more  important  features  of  Congregational  economy: 

The  organization  of  the  churches  is  simple  and  consistent.  Members  that 
have  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  are  entitled  to  a  vote  on  all  ques- 
tions. The  officers  are  the  pastor  (or  minister,  or  elder)  and  the  deacons. 
No  distinction  of  grades  or  orders — such  as  the  diaconate,  the  presbyterate, 
the  episcopate — is  recognized.  The  pastor  is  not  a  ruler,  but  only  the  mod- 
erator ex  officio  of  congregational  meetings.  In  case  of  his  absence  any 
member  of  the  meeting  may  be  chosen  to  preside.  It  is  his  duty,  while  in 
charge  of  a  congregation,  to  do  the  customary  service  of  a  Christian  pastor. 
Once  ordained,  he  is  regarded  as  retaining  his  ministerial  office  even  when 
not  holding  a  pastoral  charge. 

The  deacons  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  care 
for  the  sick  and  the  poor,  and  are  advisers  of  the  pastor.  Their  election, 
which  was  formerly  for  life,  is  in  the  present  day  usually  for  a  term  of 
years.  For  this  reason  the  rite  of  ordination  to  this  office,  which  was  also 
formerly  observed,  has  in  most  churches  been  discontinued. 


384  Christianity  as  Organised 

The  deacons,  together  with  the  clerk  (who  is  elected  to  keep  the  records 
of  the  church  and  the  roll  of  membership),  in  some  instances  the  treasurer, 
and  two  or  three  other  members,  constitute  what  is  called  the  Church  Com- 
mittee. It  is  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  consult  with  the  pastor  concerning 
the  interests  of  the  congregation,  to  prepare  business  for  congregational 
meetings,  and  to  present  at  such  meetings  the  names  of  persons  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  church  or  expelled  from  its  membership. 

Much  use  is  made  of  Occasional  Councils.  These  are  composed  of  min- 
isters and  lay  delegates  from  a  number  of  churches,  and  are  convened  at  tlie 
request  of  some  particular  church,  sometimes  to  ordain  or  install  a  minister, 
and  sometimes  to  give  advice  on  some  occasion  of  importance.  These  occa- 
sions are  such,  for  example,  as  the  following:  When  a  number  of  persons 
desire  to  organize  themselves  into  a  church ;  when  a  candidate  for  the  min- 
istry wishes  to  be  approved  for  ordination ;  when  there  is  serious  dissension 
in  a  church;  and  so  on.  Congregational  usage  also  recognizes  such  a  council 
as  the  ordaining  body.  In  all  cases,  however,  even  in  that  of  the  trial  of 
a  minister  and  his  expulsion  from  membership  in  a  local  church,  authorita- 
tive action  can  be  taken  by  the  local  church  only. 

Besides  these  Occasional  Councils,  convened  for  special  cases,  there  are 
assemblies  that  meet  regularly  for  consultation,  the  promotion  of  fellowship, 
and  the  general  direction  and  encouragment  of  the  work  of  the  churches. 
These  are  Associations,  State  Conferences  (in  a  few  states  called  State 
Associations,  and  in  a  few  other  State  Conventions),  and  the  National 
Council.  They  are  all  composed  of  representatives,  lay  and  ministerial,  from 
the  churches. 

The  Association  represents  the  churches  of  a  comparatively  small  district, 
and  usually  meets  twice  a  year.  Here  the  condition  of  the  churches  is  re- 
ported, and  various  questions  relating  to  their  needs  and  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  Christ  among  them  are  discussed.  It  is  expected  of  every 
Congregational  church  that  it  shall  have  membership  in  such  an  Association. 

State  Conferences  represent  the  churches  of  a  state  or  territorj' ;  and  it 
is  required  that  the  churches  thus  represented  shall  be  members  of  some 
Association.  In  its  general  purpose  and  proceedings  the  State  Conference 
dififers  but  little  from  the  Association.     Its  meetings  are  annual. 

The  National  Council  is  composed  of  delegates,  either  ministers  or  lay- 
men, elected  by  Associations.  State  Conferences,  faculties  of  colleges  and 
theological  seminaries,  and  societies  for  Christian  work.  Only  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Associations  and  Conferences,  however,  vote  in  its  meetings. 
It  is  recommended  that  the  delegations,  as  far  as  possible,  consist  of  min- 
isters and  laymen  in  equal  numbers.  The  meetings  of  the  National  Council 
are  triennial ;  but  special  sessions  may  be  called  at  any  time  at  the  request 
of  five  State  Conferences.^ 

'"It  has  helped  greatly  in  the  solution  of  important  questions  and  shown 
that  union   is  possible  without  uniformity.     It  v;ill  in  the  future  be  increas- 


The  Congregational  Idea 


O^D 


It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  these  regular  assemblies,  district,  state. 
and  national,  like  the  Occasional  Councils,  are  permitted  in  no  case  whatever 
to  exercise  authoritj^  over  the  churches.  They  meet  for  mutual  sympathy 
and  helpfulness  in  extending  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  They  advise,  but  never 
command.  Still  it  is  in  their  power  to  deny  fellowship  to  a  church  which, 
because  of  rejecting  their  advice,  or  for  any  other  cause,  may  be  deemed  un- 
worthy; just  as  on  the  other  hand  any  church,  in  the  exercise  of  its  own 
judgment  and  conscience,  may  withdraw  from  association  with  them.  In 
like  manner  the  Association  and  the  State  Conference  to  which  a  minister 
belongs  may  withdraw  fellowship  from  him.  or  he  from  them. 

Candidates  for  the  ministry  are  expected  to  pursue  a  course  of  literary 
and  theological  preparation,  and  to  be  approved,  or  nominated,  by  some  body 
of  ministers  or  of  ministers  and  laymen  (though  this  custom,  it  seems,  is  not 
always  observed).  They  are  then  eligible  to  be  called  to  the  pastorate  of  a 
church,  ordained  to  the  ministry,  and  installed  as  pastors.  The  ordination 
itself  should  be  performed  with  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands  by  a 
council  called  for  the  purpose;  and  so  also  should  each  separate  installation 
in  the  pastorate.  At  the  close  of  the  ceremony,  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
is  given  by  the  council  to  the  newly  ordained  minister,  who  is  thus  received 
into  recognized  association  with  his  ministerial  brethren. 

Lay  ordination  and  installation  is  contrary  to  the  prevalent  practice, 
though  not  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Congregationalism.  "Let  them 
be  ordained  by  the  leathern  mitten  of  the  laity  rather  than  not  at  all."* 

The  missionary  work  of  the  churches  is  carried  on  through 
voktntary  societies.  Of  these  the  oldest  and  most  notable  is  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  This, 
indeed,  is  the  oldest  foreign  missionary  society  in  the  United 
States.  Its  originators  were  a  little  group  of  theological  stu- 
dents, Samuel  John  Mills  and  others,  at  Andover  Seminary. 
Organized  a  century  ago  (1810),  the  American  Board  is  rep- 
resented in  the  foreign  field,  according  to  recent  statistics,  by 
594  missionaries  and  4,125  native  laborers.  And  while  it  can- 
not be  shown  that  the  polity  of  Congregationalism  is  itself  espe- 
cially well  adapted  to  either  home  or  foreign  evangelization,  the 
enlightened  interest  of  its  people  in  this  work,  as  proved  by  their 
pecimiary  contributions,  is  unsurpassed  except  in  the  extraordi- 
nary instance  of  the  Moravian  Church. 


ingly  the  rallying  place  and  unifying  power  of  the  denomination."'     (Boynton, 
"The  Congregational  Way,"  p.  136.) 

^Boynton,  "The  Congregational  Way;"  Walker,  "Creeds  and  Platforms  of 
Congregationalism;"  Ladd,  "Principles  of  Church  Polity." 

25 


386  Christianity  as  Organized 

5.  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Baptist  Churches. 

Earlier  in  origin  than  the  Congregationahsts,  and  earher  Hke- 
wise  in  the  adoption  of  a  purely  democratic  form  of  government, 
were  the  Baptists.  They  appeared  first  in  Switzerland,  as  the 
despised  sect  of  Anabaptists,'  toward  the  close  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Many  things  were  they  called  to  suffer 
at  the  hands  of  both  the  Protestant  State  Church  and  the  Roman- 
ists. Confiscation  of  property,  imprisonment,  slavery,  exile,  and 
burning  at  the  stake  were  the  means  employed  for  their  extenni- 
nation.  Many  also  were  the  fanatical  excesses  of  belief  and  con- 
duct into  which,  through  ignorance,  emotionalism,  and  persecu- 
tion, they  were  driven.  These  fanatical  vagaries  discredited  what 
was  true  and  good  in  their  testimony,  breaking  its  force  and 
bringing  it  into  contempt.^  Nevertheless,  their  numbers  increased 
and  their  doctrines  spread  far  and  wide. 

Narrowly  sectarian,  were  they  not?  Under  the  circumstances 
it  was  well-nigh  inevitable  that  they  should  be  so.  Besides,  as 
some  one  has  aptly  said :  "It  is  quite  possible  for  a  flowerpot  or 
a  religious  body  to  be  exceeding  narrow,  and  yet  to  harbor  the 
germinating  seed  of  something  very  great."  It  was  a  prophetic 
utterance  of  one  of  the  early  martyrs  of  this  particular  "religious 
body,"  Balthasar  Hiibmaier :  "Truth  is  immortal ;  and  though 
for  a  long  time  she  be  imprisoned,  scourged,  crowned  with 
thorns,  cimcified  and  buried,  she  will  yet  rise  victorious  on  the 
third  day  and  will  reign  and  triumph."  Nor  has  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  the  persecuted  congregations  for  which  this  eloquent  Chris- 
tian witness-bearer  died  at  the  stake,  dishonored  his  faith.  The 
membership  of  their  successors  is  numbered  now  by  the  million. 

In  the  Low  Countries  they  followed  the  leadership  of  a  de- 
vout, sensible,  and  conscientious  Christian  teacher,  Menno  Sim- 
ons; and  were  called,  after  his  name,  Mennonites. 

Before  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  a  number  of  Baptists  might  be  found  in  En- 

*Some  Baptist  writers  make  a  distinction  between  Anabaptists  and  Baptists. 
'Neal,  "History  of  the  Puritans."  Vol.  I.,  p.  137. 


The  Congregational  idea  3^^/ 

gland.  Like  their  brethren  on  the  Continent,  whence  indeed 
many  of  them  had  tied  as  refugees,  tliey  were  made  to  eat  the 
bitter  bread  of  affliction :  witness  the  sweet-spirited,  imaginative 
genius,  John  Bunyan,  suffering  so  long  the  "noisomeness  and  ill 
usage"  of  a  seventeenth  century  jail  for  conscience'  sake.  ''Of 
whom" — humble,  elect,  heroic  spirits — neither  "the  world"  nor 
the  Church  of  their  day  was  "worthy." 

The  Baptists  have  held  with  remarkable  consistency  and  una- 
nimity the  theory  of  a  pure  ecclesiastic  democracy.  No  "Bar- 
rowism"  seems  ever  to  have  disturbed  it.  Not  that  this  idea 
of  government  is  universally  practiced  by  them ;  for  in  many 
cases — perhaps  in  nearly  all — congregations  are  ruled,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  by  the  few  rather  than  the  many.  But  the  purely 
democratic  theory  is  everywhere  maintained  as  a  Scripture  doc- 
trine ;  and  all  church  members  have  an  equal  right  to  practice  it, 
if  they  will.  The  idea  of  individualism  is  carried  to  a  further 
extreme  than  among  the  present-day  Congregationalists. 

The  Regular  Baptists  of  the  United  States,  beginning  w^ith  a 
feeble  little  "church  in  the  wilderness,"  organized  by  Roger  Wil- 
liams in  1639,  have  increased  unto  a  membership  of  over  five 
millions.  Strongly  denominational,  cut  off  by  their  beliefs  from 
full  fellowship  with  other  Christian  denominations,  they  have 
embodied  their  views  of  New^  Testament  teaching  as  to  the  con- 
stitution of  a  Christian  church,  in  ever-multiplying  congregations 
throughout  the  land. 

The  consensus  of  belief  as  to  church  organization  in  the  American  Baptist 
churches  is  about  as  follows : 

A  church  is  a  company  of  true  believers  in  Christ — and  hence  of  regen- 
erate persons — baptized  on  profession  of  their  faith  and  united  in  a  Christian 
covenant.  Baptism  is  by  "the  immersion,  dipping,  or  burying  a  candidate  in 
the  water."     There  is  no  other  scriptural  or  permissible  mode. 

Each  church,  or  congregation,  is  self-governing.  As  to  its  laws,  it  does 
not  make  but  only  executes  them.  They  are  to  be  found  in  the  one  authori- 
tative statute  book  of  Christ's  churches — namely,  the  New  Testament. 

The  officers  of  a  church  are  of  two  classes  only — pastors  and  deacons.  A 
pastor  is  a  bishop,  or  elder  (the  two  terms  being  interchangeable  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  therefore  to  be  so  used  now),  who  has  the  oversight 
of  a  congregation ;  an  evangelist  is  a  bishop,  or  elder,  who  travels  from  place 
to  place  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel. 


388  Christianity  as  Organised 

Anj^  number  of  persons,  though  it  be  two  only,  may  unite  to  form  a 
church;  and  every  member  of  a  church,  without  respect  to  age,  sex,  intel- 
ligence, or  maturity  of  Christian  character,  is  entitled  to  vote.^ 

Though  each  church  chooses  and  ordains  its  own  minister,  this  is  reg- 
ularly done,  as  in  Congregational  churches,  with  the  approval  of  a  Council 
called  for  the  purpose,  and  consisting  of  an  invited  company  (presb\-tery)  of 
ministers,  or  of  ministers  and  laymen,  from  other  churches.  The  form  of 
ordination  includes  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of  hands ;  and  an}'^  person  whom 
the  candidate  and  the  church  shall  select  may  perform  the  ceremony. 

Indeed,  the  Occasional  Council  serves  substantially  the  same  particular 
purposes  in  the  Baptist  as  in  the  Congregational  churches. 

Deacons  are  not  only  to  have  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  poor  and  of 
various  temporalities,  and  to  distribute  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  Lord's 
Supper,  but  also  to  counsel  and  assist  the  pastor  concerning  all  the  interests 
of  the  church.  They  are  elected,  in  some  instances,  for  life;  in  others,  for  a 
limited  period,  which  is  usually  three  years.  It  is  not  proper  for  them  to 
hold  meetings  of  their  own,  apart  from  the  pastor,  as  if  they  were  them- 
selves an  official  board.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  their  office  is  in  very  many 
cases  more  nominal  than  real. 

Naturally  enough  the  churches  of  a  certain  territory  would  desire  to  he 
associated  together  as  closely  a.s  possible.  Accordingly,  their  pastors  and  a 
fixed  number  of  messengers,  or  delegates,  may  meet  annually  for  the  purpose 
of  advising  and  consulting  concerning  matters  of  general  interest.  Such  a 
meeting  is  a  Baptist  Association.  Its  sessions  are  for  two  days  or  longer. 
While  exercising  no  control  whatever  over  the  churches,  it  maj"^  decline  for 
satisfactorjr  reasons  to  receive  their  ministers  or  delegates,  and  thus  exclude 
this  or  that  church  from  its  fellowship. 

Another  society  is  the  State  Convention,  or  General  Association.  This  is 
a  missionary  organization.  It  is  entirely  independent  of  the  Associations, 
though  these  may  and  sometimes  do  report  to  it  and  work  in  cooperation 
with  it.  Its  membership  rests  chiefly  on  a  monetary  basis,  being  composed 
of  the  messengers  of  contributing  churches  or  societies,  and  persons  who 
themselves  pay  a  certain  amount  of  money  into  its  treasury. 

There  is  also  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention  for  the  North  and  West, 
and  a  similar  society,  the  Southern  Convention,  for  the  rest  of  the  country. 
whose  main  objects  are  the  promotion  of  home  and  foreign  missions  and 
of  Sundaj'  schools.    The  meetings  of  both  are  held  annually.^ 

^"In  some  few  churches  neither  women  nor  minors  have  a  vote,  and  per- 
haps in  a  large  number  the  younger  children  are  not  expected  to  vote  on 
questions  of  importance,  though  they  may  not  by  any  rule  be  deprived  of 
the  right.  It  is  true,  also,  that  in  very  many  of  our  churches,  perhaps  with 
regret  we  might  say  a  majority  of  them,  the  larger  part  of  the  members  do 
not  attend  the  business  meetings,  and  it  is  practically  a  fraction  of  the 
church  which  regulates  its  business  concerns."   (Dargan,  "Ecclesiology,"  p.  113.) 

"Hiscox,  "New  Director)-  of  Baptist  Churches:"  Dargan,  '"EcclesiologA-." 


The  Congregational  Idea  389 

In  the  English  Baptist  churches  baptism  is  not  regarded  as 
an  essential  condition  of  admission  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  English  Baptists — as  represented,  for  example,  by 
such  illustrious  names  as  Bunyan,  Robert  Hall,  and  Charles  H. 
Spurgeon — admit  their  brethren  of  other  evangelical  churches  to 
commune  with  them  at  the  Lord's  table.  It  is  also  true  of  Eng- 
lish Baptists  that  persons  not  baptized  by  immersion  are  in  some 
instances  admitted  into  church  membership,  and  even  elected  to 
high  official  positions. 

Until  recently  the  Baptist  churches  of  the  United  States  have 
not  offered  tlie  communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  Christians 
of  other  churches.  But  at  the  present  time  there  seems  to  be  a 
strong  tendency  in  the  North  toward  "open  communion." 

More  than  most  Christian  churches,  the  Baptists,  it  is  evident, 
regard  the  forms  of  worship,  of  the  administration  of  sacra- 
ments, and  of  church  go^  ernment  w'nich  seem  to  have  obtained 
in  the  New  Testament  congregations,  as  binding  precedents  for 
all  subsequent  circumstances  and  times.  But  there  arose,  a  cen- 
tury ago,  in  certain  of  their  congregations,  a  movement  intended 
to  effect  a  still  stricter  conformity  to  New  Testament  precedents. 
This  movement  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  churches  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ.  Restoration — "to  take  up  things  just 
as  the  Apostles  left  them" — has  been  their  watchword. 

The  Disciples  hold  that  "the  New  Testament  is  as  perfect  a 
constitution  for  the  worship,  discipline,  and  government  of  the 
New  Testament  Church  ...  as  the  Old  Testament  was  for 
the  worship,  the  discipline,  and  government  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Church.'"  And  in  the  endeavor  to  embody  this  belief  in 
practice,  they  make  it  a  matter  of  church  order,  for  example,  to 
refuse  to  be  called  by  any  denominational  name — regarding  all 
such  names  as  unscriptural  and  sectarian ;  to  set  forth  no  "human" 
creed  or  confession  of  faith — distinctly  confessing,  however, 
with  tongue  and  pen,  the  New  Testament  teaching  as  they  under- 

^"Declaration  and  Address"  of  1809,  cited  in  Gates's  "The  Disciples  of 
Christ,"  p.  51. 


390  Christianity  as  Organized 

stand  it ;  to  observe  the  Lord's  Supper  weekly — quoting,  as  a  de- 
terminative reason  for  this  custom,  Acts  xx.  7,  "And  upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread, 
Paul  discoursed  with  them :"  to  avoid  the  use  of  such  titles  as 
"Reverend,"  making  no  distinction  between  ministers  and  lay- 
men, and  calling  their  ministers  "elder"  only:  to  baptize  by  im- 
mersion and  on  the  simple  profession  of  belief  in  Jesus  as  the 
Christ. 

It  is  in  pursuance  of  the  same  idea  that  the  Disciples  propose 
to  copy — shall  we  not  say,  rather  than  imitate? — as  closely  as 
possible  the  form  of  government  that  appears  in  the  churches 
of  apostolic  times.  Their  polity  is  purely  congregational.  Un- 
like the  Baptists,  but  like  the  Presbyterians,  they  have  a  plural 
eldership.^ 

The  Disciples  have  a  distinct  plan  and  plea  for  the  unification 
of  the  churches.  Assuming  their  own  faith  and  order  to  be  the 
one  true  interpretation  of  the  New  Testament  teaching,  and 
hence  the  one  common  meeting  ground  of  Christians,  they  ur- 
gently offer  it  as  such/ 

6.  Estimate  of  the  Purely  Democratic  Theory  of  Church 

Government. 

The  excellences  of  the  congregational  polity  are  manifest. 

(i)  Its  simplicity  commends  it.  Here  is  nothing  complicated 
or  excessive;  no  undue  multiplication  of  offices  and  functionaries, 
of  dignities  and  prerogatives;  no  hierarchic  pomp.  All  seems 
unpretentious,  primitive,  easy  of  apprehension  and  approval.  It 
is  Christianity  most  simply  and  transparently  organized.  There 
is  little  machinery  among  the  stars ;  and  as  the  planet — to  use  the 

^"Our  [the  Baptist]  churches  have  discarded  the  plurality  of  elders.  It  is 
our  custom  now,  even  in  very  large  churches,  to  have  only  one  active  pastor, 
or  elder,  while  it  seems  clear  that  in  the  New  Testament  churches,  certainly 
the  larger  ones,  there  were  several  or  even  many  elders."  (Dargan,  "Eccle- 
siology."  p.  115.) 

"Article  on  "The  Disciples  of  Christ"  by  F.  D.  Power,  in  the  New  Schaflf- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia ;  Gates,  "The  Disciples  of  Christ,"  in  The  Story  of  the 
Churches  Series;  Moore,  "The  Plea  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ." 


The  Congregational  Idea  391 

favorite  Congregational  figure — rexolves  serenely  about  the  two 
foci  of  its  elliptical  orbit,  so  the  separate  Christian  congregations 
may  be  imagined  as  moving  steadily  and  strongly  about  their 
two  central  principles  of  autonomy  and  fellowship. 

(2)  Dispensing  with  the  use  of  general  governmental  powers, 
it  renders  the  arbitrary  or  tyrannical  misuse  of  such  powers  im- 
possible. 

(3)  It  trusts  the  people.  No  conceivable  right  or  privilege  is 
denied  them.  No  conceivable  responsibility  is  spared  them. 
They  must  even,  as  separate  congregations,  choose  or  frame  their 
own  confession  of  faith.  And  it  is  good  to  be  trusted.  What 
more  effectually  conduces  to  trustworthiness?  Democracy  is  ed- 
ucative ;  responsibility  broadens  and  strengthens  the  mind ;  ac- 
tivity promotes  growth. 

I  have  heard  it  given,  as  a  bit  of  personal  experience,  by  a  mis- 
sionary of  long  residence  in  the  Chinese  Empire :  "Men  will 
never  be  saved  by  being  talked  down  to."  It  is  a  principle  of 
wide  and  varied  application.  People  will  never  be  elevated  in 
thought  and  character  by  being  governed,  either  in  Church  or 
State,  as  infants  or  other  incapables. 

That  the  entire  membership  of  a  church,  then,  should  be  con- 
stantly called  upon  to  deal  with  important  practical,  and  even 
scriptural  and  tlieological,  questions,  suits  men's  mental  consti- 
tution. It  tends  to  give  simplicity,  richness,  and  variety  to  their 
religious  life.  It  ma)'-  reasonably  be  expected  to  make  them 
more  intelligent,  self-reliant,  interested,  efficient.  "Therefore," 
says  with  truth  a  Congregational  writer,  "we  found  schools  and 
colleges  almost  as  soon  as  our  church  spires  rise  heavenward." 

Now  it  is  true  that  the  American  Protestant  churches  may  be 
said  to  be,  almost  without  exception,  largely  democratic  in  gov- 
ernment. But  in  congregationally  governed  churches  the  de- 
mocracy being  direct,  or  pure,  and  not  simply,  as  in  the  other 
churches,  representative,  its  proper  individualizing  effect  will  be 
most  notable. 

(4)  It  encourages  the  sense  of  the  headship  of  Christ  over  the 
congregation,  and  of  immediate  relation  to  him.     Mediation  and 


392  Christianity  as  Organised 

authority  are  here  reduced  to  the  lowest  point.  Christ  is  King. 
This  human  democracy,  therefore,  when  the  truest  confession 
of  it  is  made,  proves  to  be  a  Divine  monarchy. 

(5)  It  is  promotive  of  fellowship  and  the  exercise  of  spiritual 
gifts.  It  makes  the  church  a  body  not  of  baptized  persons  but 
of  Christian  believers  organized  indeed  for  self-government,  but 
also  for  mutual  instruction,  admonition,  edification — as  far  as 
possible  in  its  nature  from  a  body  of  clergymen  monopolizing  all 
powers  and  offices.^  The  weekly  conference  meeting  or  some 
similar  form  of  fellowship  is  developed.  There  is  prayer  and 
speech  concerning  the  Christian  life  and  the  advancement  of 
Christ's  cause.  Thus  the  ministry  of  gifts  is  encouraged.  It 
seems  fitting,  for  instance,  that  from  Congregationalism  such  a 
lay  evangelist  as  Dwight  L.  Moody,  representing  a  great  com- 
pany of  lay  workers  that  have  since  arisen,  should  have  gone 
forth. 

Yet  there  is  another  side  to  the  question. 

(i)  Simplicity  is  good;  but  it  should  not  be  confused  with  a 
lack  of  differentiation.  It  is  true  that  "there  is  little  macliinery 
among  the  stars,"  but  it  is  equally  true  that,  so  far  as  appears, 
the  stars  have  very  few  things  to  do.  Their  functions  are  not 
nearly  so  numerous,  for  example,  as  those  of  the  human  body; 
and  the  body  would  be  crippled  in  its  activities  by  the  loss  of  any 
one  of  the  many  organs  with  which  it  has  been  endowed.  So 
likewise  would  a  perfectly  constituted  church.  It  is  neither  ex- 
cessively nor  inadequately  organized. 

(2)  Suffrage  is  not  an  inherent  but  an  acquired  right.  Proper- 
ly speaking,  it  belongs  to  those  who  are  competent  to  exercise 
it  well,  and  to  no  others.  It  will  not  be  maintained,  therefore, 
that  all  church  members,  experienced  and  inexperienced,  strong- 

^"Congregationalism  has  built  into  its  very  being,  built  in  by  vital  processes 
of  nutrition  and  growth,  as  food  is  built  into  the  fabric  of  muscle  and  bone, 
a  special  development  of  the  great  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  the  illuminer,  guide,  and  ruler  of  redeemed  souls."  (Ladd,  "Prin- 
ciples of  Church  Polity,"  p.  45.) 


The  Congregational  Idea  393 

minded  and  weak-minded,  worthy  and  unworthy,  old  and  young', 
or  even  all  members  of  mature  age,  have  the  right  to  vote  on  the 
often  difficult  questions  of  ecclesiastical  government,  creed,  and 
discipline. 

But  even  if  for  the  sake  of  argument  such  a  right  be  con- 
ceded, would  it  not  better  in  many  instances  be  waived  in  favor 
of  chosen  representatives?  In  the  civil  community  the  majority 
of  men  are  more  competent  to  select  suitable  lawmakers  than  to 
make  their  own  laws.  Hence,  while  it  has  been  discovered  that 
men  are  best  governed  when  permitted  as  far  as  possible  to  gov- 
ern themselves,  it  has  also  been  discovered  that  they  are  best 
governed  through  representatives  rather  than  by  their  own  direct 
vote.  And  why  should  the  case  be  radically  different  in  the  ec- 
clesiastical community?  To  make  the  collective  membership  of 
a  church  legislators  and  judges  is  not  necessarily  to  set  the  P3^ra- 
mid  upon  its  base. 

.  In  brief,  the  question  is  that  of  a  choice  of  rulers.  Where 
shall  we  locate  the  direct  supreme  authoritative  rulership?  In 
each  particular  congregation,  whether  it  be  large  or  small,  spir- 
itually enlightened  or  unenlightened,  literate  or  illiterate,  mainly 
composed  of  men  or  women  or  children?  in  a  council  of  select 
representatives  of  many  churches?  in  a  single  supreme  overseer? 
Where  is  the  larger  competency  and  the  larger  freedom  from  dis- 
turbing influences  likely  to  be  found? 

As  to  spiritual  despotism,  it  is,  to  be  .sure,  no  phantom  of  an 
agitated  brain,  but  an  imminent  possibility  that  must  be  faith- 
fully guarded  against — a  possibility  that  in  numberless  cases  be- 
comes unquestionable  fact.  Rut  the  despotism  of  a  pure  democ- 
racy, whether  it  embrace  a  lialf  million  or  only  a  half-score  of 
voters,  is  no  less  real  and  no  more  tolerable  than  that  of  a  con- 
ciliar  government. 

Congregationalism,  it  has  been  said,  will  not  reach  its  golden 
age  till  men  are  made  ready  for  it :  it  is  "preeminently  the  polity 
of  perfect  men,  and  it  cannot  do  its  perfect  work  until  there  be 
perfect  men."  But  meantime!  In  the  problem  of  the  perfecting 
of  humankind,  expediency  and  adaptation  are  certainly  not  neg- 


394  Christianity  as  Organized 

ligible  factors.  And  while  tlie  form  of  government  must  rest  on 
principles,  it  is  not  itself  a  principle.  Let  it  be  adjusted,  there- 
fore, to  men  as  they  are,  so  as  the  better  to  help  them  become 
what  they  are  to  be.  This,  we  may  hope,  rather  than  any  more 
ideal  organizing,  will  hasten  the  millennial  day  of  "perfect  men." 

(3)  The  lack  of  centralized  authority  is  unfavorable  to  large 
aggressive  enterprises.  True,  a  great  work  of  evangelization, 
at  home  and  abroad,  may  be  done  through  the  simple  fellowship 
of  the  churches;  but  a  greater  work  will  be  done  through  such 
a  fellowship  under  a  strongly  unified  administration.' 

(4)  There  are  certain  dangers,  it  will  generally  be  admitted, 
to  which  the  congregational  form  of  government  is  somewhat 
specially  inviting.  One  is  the  danger  of  vagaries  in  doctrine  and 
usage.  Another  is  the  minister's  danger  of  becoming  too  much 
the  creature  of  his  congregation,  instead  of  their  ruler,  guide, 
and  leader,  according  to  the  appointment  of  Christ. 

^"Perhaps  it  would  not  be  too  much  to  say  that  the  crowning  reproach  of 
the  Baptists  as  a  people,  and  their  most  conscientiously  recognized  fault,  is 
their  lack  of  efficiency  as  a  whole.  Their  idle  resources  are  a  cause  of  keen 
mortfication  to  the  most  intelligent  among  them.  .  .  .  Now,  the  effective- 
ness of  the  Baptist  churches,  like  other  things,  is  a  matter  of  parts  and  a 
whole ;  for  it  vitally  depends  on  the  proper  relations  of  these  parts  to  each 
other.  No  thoughtful  Baptist  can  fail  to  see  that  here  lies  the  principal 
weakness  of  our  denomination.  Some  of  our  opponents  do  not  hesitate  to 
charge  this  upon  our  independent  church  polity;  but  surely,  believing  as  we 
do  that  this  polity  is  of  divine  appointment  and  of  perpetual  obligation,  we 
cannot  admit  that  the  New  Testament  method  is  at  fault."  (Dargan,  "Ec- 
clesiology,"  pp.  142,  143.)  Apparently  the  author  would  recognize  the  need 
of  some  centralization  of  authority  for  the  promotion  of  the  efficiency  of 
the  churches,  did  not  his  belief  that  the  congregational  economy  of  the  New 
Testament  is  a  binding  precedent,  forbid  the  idea. 

"The  maintenance  by  local  churches  of  entire  freedom  from  ecclesiastical 
organization  with  responsibility  or  authority  means  slow  growth  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  organized  denominations;  and  the  controlling  impulse  of 
Christians  in  our  time  to  evangelize  the  world  makes  the  sacrifice  of  ag- 
gressive strength  through  remaining  a  loose  aggregation  of  federated  churches 
seem  a  very  large  cost  for  preserving  unmodified  our  historic  polity.  Yet 
it  may  be  that  there  is  a  quality  of  Christian  character  which  can  be  pre- 
served only  through  such  a  polity,  and  that  this  quality  is  worth  the  cost." 
{The  Congregaiionalist,  July  27,  1907.) 


The  Congregational  Idea  395 

(5)  The  lack  of  connectionalism  and  centralization  has  a  ten 
dency  to  promote  an  unduly  sensitive  spirit  of  independence  in 
the  churclies.' 

(6)  It  may  well  be  doubted,  simply  on  general  principles  of 
freedom  and  authority,  that  the  functions  of  representative  as- 
semblages of  the  churches  should  be  limited  to  the  giving  of 
counsel.  For  is  not  too  little  authority  as  really  hurtful  as  too 
much?  It  is  good  to  be  trusted,  it  is  good  to  rule  oneself ;  but  it 
is  also  good  to  be  commanded  and  to  obey.  Here  again  the 
analogy  of  civil  government  is  not  without  its  significance.  That 
local  churches  should  agree  to  be  directed,  in  certain  matters  of 
general  concern,  by  the  will  of  a  representative  body  duh-  re- 
stricted by  constitutional  safeguards,  would  seem  to  violate  no 
right,  to  jeopard  no  interest,  and  to  be  promotive  of  a  steadier, 
more  aggressive,  more  uniform  and  unifying  government. 

^"The  curse  of  Congregationalism,  which  not  only  hinders  it  from  ful- 
filling its  mission,  but  threatens  its  very  existence,  is  'parochial  selfishness.' 
This  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Congregational  churches,  but  is  a  graver 
danger  under  our  free  polity.  Each  church,  being  sufficient  unto  itself,  thinks 
only  of  itself.  It  resents  even  advice  from  other  churches,  as  an  inter- 
ference with  its  supreme  authority."  (Heermance,  "Democracy  fn  the 
Church,"  p.  121.) 


II. 

THE  CONCILIAR  IDEA. 

Men  believe  in  government  by  others  as  truly  as  in  self-gov- 
ernment. Claiming  freedom,  they  trust  themselves  freely  to  au- 
thority. Both  faiths  are  instinctive  and  universal,  representing 
innate  needs  of  the  soul.  Both  are  exemplified  in  the  feeling  of 
the  child  toward  the  parent — tlie  home  their  birthplace  and  chief 
training  school.  Both  are  found  in  all  conditions  of  life,  in  all 
positions  whether  public  or  private,  in  all  states  of  society,  under 
every  form  of  civil  administration.  If  ever  men  fought  for  self- 
government,  it  was  the  Spartans  who  died  at  Thermopylae ;  yet 
the  monument  above  their  dust  bore  the  inscription :  "O  stranger, 
tell  it  at  Lacedaemon  that  we  lie  here  in  obedience  to  her  laws." 
If  ever  a  woman  knew  the  power  of  self-command,  it  was  Susan- 
nah Wesley ;  yet  when,  in  her  husband's  absence,  slie  was  holding 
religious  meetings  which  he  had  been  led,  as  rector  of  the  parish, 
to  disapprove  of.  she  wrote  to  him  not  to  desire  but  to  command 
her  to  desist — "send  me  your  positive  command."  /Vnd  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  followers  of  her  most  illustrious  son,  in  their  vol- 
untary obedience  to  him,  keeping  the  rigid  rules  of  the  United 
Society,  offered  a  thousandfold  illustration  of  the  same  principle. 

With  respect  to  the  Church  as  well  as  the  State,  both  these 
principles  of  government  by  others  and  self-governing  freedom 
are  sanctioned  in  the  New  Testament.  Concerning  the  State  it 
is  said,  "Let  every  soul  be  in  subjection  to  the  higher  powers ;'" 
concerning  the  Church  it  is  said :  "Obey  them  that  have  the  rule 
over  you,  and  submit  to  them."^  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  taught 
in  the  New  Testament  that  men  shall  act  for  themselves  in  free- 
dom, according  to  their  own  judgment  and  conscience,  even 
though  contrary  to  civil  or  ecclesiastical  law :  "They  will  deliver 
you  up  to  councils,  and  in  their  synagogues  they  will  scourge 

^Rom.  xiii.  I.  ^Heb.  xiii.  17. 

(396) 


The  Conciliar  Idea  397 

yon ;  yea,  and  before  governors  and  kings  shall  ye  be  brought 
for  my  sake;'"  "Let  no  man  therefore  judge  yon  in  meat,  or 
in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  feast  day  or  a  new  moon  or  a  sabbath 
day."' 

Moreover,  it  is  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  that  the 
authority  of  the  rulers  whom  the  people  must  obey  and  submit 
to  is  intrusted  to  them  by  the  Supreme  Ruler.  And  it  is  only 
when  these  "ministers  of  God,"  in  Church  or  State,  so  abuse 
their  trust  as  to  enforce  enactments  in  violation  of  his  declared 
will,  that  men,  acting  in  freedom,  may  rightfully  disobey  them. 
Such  disobedience,  therefore,  is  itself  under  law.  It  is  obedience 
to  the  law  of  God:  "We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men;"''  "Not 
being  without  law  to  God,  but  under  law  to  Christ."*  If  a  man 
should  "die  unto  the  law" — unto  any  law,  civil  or  ecclesiastical — 
it  must  be  that  he  may  "live  unto  God."° 

Now  as  regards  these  ultimate  principles  of  freedom  and  au- 
thority, all  reasonable  men  agree.  It  is  in  the  adjustment  of 
them  either  to  other  that  dit^culties  start  up.  How  much  free- 
dom, or  self-government,  and  how  much  authority,  or  govern- 
ment by  others,  in  any  particular  case — that  is  the  problem. 
None  but  an  anarchist  would  approve  the  sad  fanatics  at  the  rise 
of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  whose  claim  Calvin  honors  with  a 
refutation,  and  assert  that  obedience  to  any  civil  magistrate  is 
"incompatible  with  the  perfection  of  that  obedience  accompany- 
ing the  gospel  of  Christ.""  But,  on  the  other  hand,  few  will  be 
found  in  intellectual  sympathy  with  the  attitude  described  by 
John  Henry  Newman  when  he  says :  "I  loved  to  act  as  feeling 
myself  in  my  bishop's  sight  as  if  it  were  the  sight  of  God."' 
These  are  the  extremes — lawlessness  and  blind  subservience. 
But  always  to  find  the  golden  mean,  in  the  present  state  of  human 
faculties  and  temperaments,  is  clearly  impossible. 

In  the  Church,  while  Congregationalism  stands  for  the  largest 
possible  freedom,  Presbyterianism  lays  a  heavy  stress  upon  law. 

'Matt.  X.  17,  18.  ^Col.  ii.  i6.  ^x\cts  v.  29.  'i  Cor.  ix.  21. 

"Gal.  ii.  19.  '"Institutes,"  IV.,  xx.  5.  ''"Apologia"  (1897),  p.  50. 


398  Christianity  as  Organized 

Congregationalism  commits  the  whole  government  of  the  con- 
gregation into  the  hands  of  the  people ;  Preshyterianism,  into  the 
hands  of  a  select  body  of  men  holding  a  lifetime  office.  Con- 
gregationalism will  have  only  churches  associated  in  a  sisterhood 
to  which  not  a  feather's  weight  of  authority  is  intrusted ;  Pres- 
hyterianism organizes  many  separate  churches  into  one  united 
Church,  placing  them  all  under  a  common  and  graded  presbyteral 
control. 

I.  The  Calvinian  Polity. 

Waiving  for  the  present  the  question  of  its  apostolic  origin, 
let  us  look  at  this  system  of  government  as  it  was  set  forth  by 
the  great  Genevan  theologian  and  reformer.' 

Calvin  was  no  Independent.  He  was  far  more  a  believer  in 
law  than  in  liberty.  Discipline  and  restraint  were  to  his  mind 
very  sacred  words.  "If  he  had  lived  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  says 
Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  "he  might  have  been  a  Hildebrand  or  an  Inno- 
cent III."  Perhaps  so.  Nevertheless,  the  John  Calvin  of  the 
sixteenth  century  was  no  prelatist.  Himself  as  to  political  opin- 
ion an  aristocrat  and  as  to  ecclesiastical  rank  only  a  layman,  he 
chose  for  the  Church  a  middle  way  equally  removed  from  prelacy 
and  from  Independency.  He  would  make  church  rulers  of  cho- 
sen lavmen  side  by  side  with  ministers.  While  magnifying  au- 
thority, he  would  have  the  people  represented,  at  least  to  some 
extent,  in  the  seat  of  authority. 

But  no  autonomous  congregations :  the  Church  must  be  one. 
And  Calvin's  gifts  were  constructive — those  of  a  theologic  and 
ecclesiastic  upbuilder.  In  the  matter  of  government,  Luther  was 
more  successful  in  the  destructive;  Calvin,  in  the  constructive. 
Luther  with  his  fiery  energy  agitated,  Calvin  with  his  instinct  of 
order  crystallized.  So,  in  opposition  to  the  Roman  hierarchy, 
there  issued  from  his  hand  a  strong,  compact,  and  reasonable 
form  of  ecclesiastic  administration,  which  claimed  to  rest  on  the 
foundation  of  the  Hebrew  Lawgiver  and  the  Apostles,  and  was 

'Compare  pp.  224-227. 


The  Conciliar  Idea  399 

not  long  in  proving  its  adaptiveness  and  efficiency  throughout  a 
great  breadth  of  Christendom. 

Shall  we  sketch  the  Calvinian  polity  as  it  is  presented  in  the 
"Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion?"  The  government  of  the 
Church  is  of  Divine  ordering/  absolutely  necessary/  and  en- 
tirely distinct  from  civil  polity  /  the  ordinary  or  permanent  offi- 
cers of  the  Church  are  four — namely,  the  Pastor,  the  Teacher 
(for  example,  Hennas  or  Justin  Martyr  or  a  modern  professor 
of  theology),*  the  Lay-elder,  and  the  Deacon/  These  officers 
should  be  elected  at  a  meeting  held  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Pastor  /  they  should  be  ordained  by  one  or  more  Pastors,  with 
the  laying  on  of  hands/  the  judicatory  of  a  church,  to  which  its 
discipline  is  committed,  should  consist  of  the  Pastor  and  Lay- 
elders/  the  civil  government  must  directly  promote  the  interests 
of  religion  and  punish  offenses  against  it/ 

Under  these  guiding  principles  Calvin  wrought  out  in  detail 
the  organization  of  reformed  Christianity  in  Geneva.  There 
were  two  governing  bodies :  ( i )  The  Venerable  Company,  which 
consisted  of  ministers  and  theological  professors  only,  and  had 
charge  of  purely  ecclesiastical  matters — such,  for  example,  as 
the  preparation  of  candidates  for  the  ministry,  and  their  ordi- 
nation to  office;  (2)  The  Consistory,  or  Presbytery,  made  up  of 
ministers  and  lay  elders,  whose  function  was  the  administration 
of  discipline.     This  court  could  inflict  only  ecclesiastic  penalties. 

'"We  must  now  treat  of  the  order  which  it  has  been  the  Lord's  will  to 
appoint  for  the  Church."     (Institutes,  IV.,  iii.  i.) 

^"F~or  neither  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun,  nor  any  meat  and  drink,  are 
so  necessary  to  the  nourishment  and  sustenance  of  the  present  life,  as  the 
apostolical  and  pastoral  office  is  to  the  preservation  of  the  Church  in  the 
world."     {Ibid.,  IV.,  iii.  2.) 

^Ihid.,  IV.,  xi.  I. 

*"A  teacher  or  doctor  is  of  most  excellent  use  in  schools  and  universities; 
as  of  old  in  the  schools  of  the  prophets  and  at  Jerusalem,  where  Gamaliel 
and  others  taught  as  doctors."  ("Form  of  Presbyterian  Church  Govern- 
ment.") 

'Institutes,  IV.,   iii.  9-  "Ibid.,   IV.,   iii.    IS-  ''Ibid.,  IV.,  iii.   l6. 

"/&«/.,  IV.,  xi.  6.  ^Ibid.,  IV..  XX.  9- 


400  Christianity  as  Organised 

But  it  could  deliver  offenders  into  the  hands  of  the  Council, 
which  was  a  civil  court  for  the  infliction  of  civil  penalties. 

Both  Council  and  Consistory  were  inquisitorial  tribunals.  It 
was  a  part  of  their  business,  by  house-to-house  visitations  and 
otherwise,  to  search  closely  into  the  moral  and  religious  life  of 
the  people,  and  bring  them  to  punishment  for  delinquencies.  But 
the  extreme  rigor  of  their  discipline  brought  the  whole  system 
into  discredit  and  defeated  its  object. 

As  to  the  part  of  the  people  in  the  government  of  the  Genevan 
Church,  it  was  very  small.  They  were  called  upon  to  confirm 
the  election  of  the  ministerial  members  of  the  Venerable  Com- 
pany and  the  Consistory ;  that  was  all.  Practically  the  govern- 
ment seems  to  have  been  that  of  an  oligarchy. 

In  the  Institutes,  as  just  said,  Calvin  advocates  for  the  Church 
a  spiritual  polity  "entirely  distinct  from  the  civil  polity."  But  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  two  polities  were  not  kept  distinct  in  the 
church  as  it  was  organized  in  Geneva.  For  the  pastors  were  sup- 
ported at  the  public  expense,  and  the  city  magistrates  must  elect 
(out  of  their  own  number)  the  lay  elders  of  the  Consistory,  and 
must  confirm  all  nominations  to  pastoral  charges.  The  State  was 
to  be  a  Christian  State,  and  as  such  must  be  incorporated  with 
the  Church,  giving  it  governmental  and  financial  support,  and 
including  all  citizens  in  the  church  membership.  At  the  same 
time  the  Church  must  maintain  its  own  supremacy  in  matters  of 
doctrine  and  morals,  and  make  authoritative  use  of  the  State  to 
enforce  discipline.  This  was  about  the  nature  of  the  alliance  be- 
tween these  two  divine  institutions  in  Geneva.  It  was  more  of 
the  Old  Testament  than  of  the  New,  more  Mosaic  than  apos- 
tolic.^    It  called  for  civil  punishments — imprisonment,  whipping, 

^"It  does  not  follow  that  because  a  Jewish  king,  as  God's  viceroy,  was 
bound  to  punish  idolatry,  a  Christian  government  has  a  right  to  suppress  by 
force  what  it  conceives  to  be  religious  error.  When  it  can  be  shown  that 
God  has  delivered  to  any  Christian  state  a  law  prescribing  the  manner  in 
which  he  is  to  be  worshiped,  and  made  that  law  part  of  the  civil  constitution 
of  the  state,  appointing  the  magistrate  his  deputy  to  execute  its  provisions, 
the  argument  from  Jewish  polity  may  stand ;  but  not  until  then."  (Litton, 
"The  Church  of  Christ,"  p.  92,  n.) 


The  Conciliar  Idea  401 

death — for  real  or  supposed  religious  offenses.  Inevitably  it  led 
to  religious  persecution.  And  here  was  one  element  of  unwis- 
dom which  brought  forth  a  plentiful  harvest  of  like  nature,  as 
always,  with  the  seed  sown,  in  the  Calvinian  polity.  It  was  not 
wholly  impatience  or  bitterness  in  John  Milton  to  describe  the 
dominant  presbyters  of  his  time  as  "new  forcers  of  the  con- 
science." 

The  Church  of  Geneva  became  a  model,  in  its  main  features, 
for  most  of  the  Protestant  churches  of  the  age.  On  the  Con- 
tinent, in  Great  Britain,  in  the  United  States — in  all  the  Re- 
formecr  and  the  Presbyterian  Cliurches — it  has  been  followed, 
not  however  without  various  adaptive  changes,  unto  the  present 
day. 

Cah-inism  even  won  its  way.  under  the  Protectorate,  a  hun- 
dred years  after  its  organization  in  Geneva,  to  supremacy  in  the 
English  Church.  While  its  doctrines  found  embodiment  in  the 
Westminster  Confession  (they  were  already,  moderately  ex- 
pressed, in  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles),  its  polity  was  established 
by  Parliament ;  and  thus  it  became  for  a  time  the  dominant  form 
of  ecclesiastical  government. 

2.  FoRM.s  OF  American  Presbyterian  Polity. 

But  more  particularly,  what  is  Presbyterian  government  at  the 
present  time?  Taking  "the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States"  (Southern  General  Assembly)  as  the  type,  let  us  make 
note  of  some  of  its  more  important  features. 

The  ordinary  and  permanent  officers  of  the  Church,  by  whom  its  whole 
government  is  administered,  are  ministers  of  the  gospel,  ruling  elders,  and 
deacons. 

There  is  no  gradation  of  orders  in  the  ministry:  the  one  ministerial  or- 
dination confers  exactly  the  same  authority  upon  all  its  recipients — namely, 
to  preach,  to  administer  the  sacraments,  to  pronounce  the  benediction,  and 
to  ordain. 

'Out  of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe  have  arisen,  through  migration, 
the   "Reformed    [Dutch]    Church   in  the  United   States"  and  the  "Reformed 
[German]  Church  in  America."    Their  government  is  Presbyterial. 
26 


402  Christianity  as  Organised 

License  to  preach  is  given  by  the  Presbytery,  after  a  literary  and  theo- 
logical examination,  and  the  licentiate  becomes  thus  a  probationer  for  the 
ministry.  On  the  acceptance  of  a  call  to  the  pastorship  of  a  congregation, 
he  is  ordained. 

Conjointly  with  the  minister,  who  is  termed  a  teaching  elder,  the  ruling 
elders  are  the  rulers  of  each  local  church.  They  are  elected  by  the  people, 
and  ordained  by  the  pastor  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Session. 
Their  number  is  determined  by  each  congregation  for  itself.  The  office  is 
not  for  a  prescribed  time,  but  perpetual.^ 

Deacons  have  the  management  of  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church,  and 
especially  the  care  of  the  poor.  They  take  no  part  in  government,  nor  in  the 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Like  the  ruling  elders,  they  are  elected 
by  the  people  and  ordained  by  the  pastor  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  Session,  and  they  hold  their  office  for  life.  But  both  elders  and  deacons 
may  be  deposed  for  heresy,  immorality,  or  unacceptableness,  by  the  Session. 

Both  elders  and  deacons  must  signify  their  acceptance  of  the  doctrinal 
standards  of  the  Church,  which  are  the  Westminster  Confession  and  the 
Catechisms — though  this  is  not  required  of  communicants — and  their  ap- 
proval of  its  government  and  discipline. 

The  governing  bodies,  or  courts,  are  four  in  number — namely,  the  Session, 
the  Presbytery,  the  Synod,  the  General  Assembly. 

The  Session  is  the  congregational  court.  It  is  composed  of  the  pastor, 
who  is  ex  officio  its  moderator,  and  the  ruling  ciders.  In  case  of  a  tie,  the 
moderator  has  the  casting  vote.  A  meeting  of  the  Session  may  be  called  at 
any  time  by  the  pastor,  and  must  be  called  when  requested  by  any  two  ruling 
elders  or  ordered  by  the  Presbytery.  Or,  during  a  vacancy  in  the  pastorate, 
it  may  be  called  by  any  two  ruling  elders. 

The  Session  has  original  jurisdiction  over  church  members.  By  its  vote 
only  can  members  be  received  into  the  church,  suspended,  dismissed,  excom- 
mtmicated,  or  restored.  It  must  devise  and  execute  plans  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  church.  It  may  conduct  a  sessional  visitation  of  the  membership ;  it 
has  general  charge  of  public  worship  and  of  Sunday-school  and  missionary 
work;  it  may  call  congregational  meetings— for  example,  for  the  election  of 
a  pastor — over  which  the  moderator  shall  preside. 

The  next  higher  court  to  the  session  is  the  Presbytery.  It  is  composed  of 
all  the  ministers,  either  with  or  without  pastoral  charges,  and  one  rulir.g 
elder,  within  a  certain  prescribed  territory.  The  elders  are  appointed  by  the 
various  sessions.  If  a  congregation  have  more  than  one  pastor,  it  is  entitled 
to  be  represented  in  presbytery  by  a  corresponding  number  of  ruling  elders ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  two  or  more  congregations  have  but  a  single  pastor, 
the  united  congregations  are  represented  by  a  single  ruling  elder — the  design 
being  to  make  the  number  of  ministers  and  of  ruling  elders  equal. 

A  call  to  a  pastoral  charge  is  offered  by  the  whole  congregation  convened 

'The  Northern  General  Assembty  has  authorized  the  election  of  elders 
for  a  term  of  years — instituting  thus  the  "rotary  eldership." 


The  Conciliar  Idea  403 

for  the  purpose.  Such  a  call  must  be  sent  to  the  Presbytery,  and  placed  by 
the  presbytery  in  the  hands  of  the  minister  or  the  probationer  to  whom  it  is 
addressed.  If  he  accept  it,  the  Presbytery,  after  a  confession  of  his  faith  shall 
have  been  made  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation  that  has  called  him,  and 
mutual  pledges  given  by  himself  and  the  people,  shall  ordain  him,  if  he  be  a 
probationer,  by  the  laying  on  of  their  hands,  and  install  him  as  pastor;  or, 
if  already  ordained,  he  shall  be  simply  installed.  The  dissolving  of  a  pastoral 
relation  must  also  be  done  by  the  Presbytery,  and  may  be  done  at  the  re- 
quest of  either  the  pastor  or  the  congregation. 

In  the  case  of  ministers,  the  Presbytery  is  the  court  of  original  jurisdic- 
tion, and  may  suspend,  depose,  or  excommunicate  them.  Some  of  its  other 
powers  are  to  organize  new  churches,  to  unite  or  divide  existing  churches, 
and  to  report  the  state  of  religion  within  bounds  to  the  Synod  and  the 
General  Assembly,  year  by  year.     Its  stated  meetings  are  semiannual. 

Above  the  Presbytery  is  the  Synod.  It  consists  of  all  the  ministers  and  one 
ruling  elder  from  each  church  within  its  territory,  which  must  comprise  at 
least  three  presbyteries. 

The  Synod  has  no  original  jurisdiction  over  either  church  members,  ruling 
elders,  or  ministers.  It  unites  or  divides  presbj-teries,  or  forms  new  ones, 
as  occasion  may  demand,  and  exercises  a  general  superintendence  over  the 
two  lower  courts  and  the  congrega'iioi:«. 

The  highest  in  this  series  of  judicatories  is  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  made 
up  of  commissioners,  who  must  be  ministers  and  ruling  elders  in  equal  numbers, 
chosen,  according  to  a  certain  ratio  of  representation,  by  the  presbyteries. 

The  General  Assembly  gives  advice  and  instruction  in  cases  referred  to  it 
for  such  purposes,  acts  as  the  agent  of  correspondence  with  other  Christian 
denominations,  determines  the  formation  and  boundaries  of  synods,  decides 
controversies  concerning  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  "constitutes  the  bond 
of  unity,  peace,  and  correspondence  among  all  its  congregations  and  courts." 

This  ecclesiastical  system,  then,  is  that  of  a  unified  representa- 
tive government  by  teaching  and  ruling  elders.  From  Session 
to  General  Assembly,  elders  only  are  appointed  to  rule.  Of  these, 
the  lay  elders  (ruling  elders)  of  the  Session  are  elected  by  the 
congregation ;  and  after  that,  the  people  have  no  voice  whatever 
in  the  government,  whether  in  Session,  Presbytery,  Synod,  or 
General  Assembly. 

The  governing  bodies — Session,  Presbytery,  Synod,  General  As- 
sembly— are  called  courts  on  the  ground  that  Christ  is  the  one 
lawgiver  of  the  Church  ;  that  his  laws  are  set  down  in  Holy  Scrip- 

*Book  of  Church  Order  in  the  Presbj-terian  Church  of  the  United  States; 
Hodge,  "What  Is  Presbyterian  Law?" 


404  Christianity  as  Organised 

tare;  that  the  authority  of  governing-  bodies,  accordingly,  is  Hm- 
ited  to  the  interpretation  and  apphcation  of  these  laws,  and  to 
making  such  special  regulations  as  are  conformable  to  them.  It 
is  "ministerial  and  declarative"  only. 

^  Not,  indeed,  that  the  whole  form  of  governm.ent  for  the 
Church  is  presented  in  the  Scriptures,  so  that  no  office  or  organi- 
zation may  lawfully  be  created  except  such  as  are  there  pre- 
scribed. This  extreme  view,  though  advocated  by  some,  is  plain- 
ly impracticable,  and  has  never  gained  wide  acceptance.'  But 
there  are  certain  fundamental  principles  of  church  polity,  it  is 
believed,  that  are  authoritatively  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
must  therefore  be  followed. 

These  principles  are  (i)  the  parity  of  the  ministry,  (2)  the 
right  of  the  people  to  a  part  in  the  government,  and  (3)  the  unity 
of  the  Church  through  the  subjection  of  a  ])art  to  the  whole. 
These  three  ideas  in  combination,  accepted  as  New  Testament 
principles — as  the  three  great  lines  of  church  construction  traced 
by  the  Divine  Architect — are  distinctive  of  Presbyterianism. 

3.  Some  Significant  Presbyterian  Beliefs. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  also  to  mark  with  a  note  of  emphasis  some 
of  the  more  significant  beliefs  tliat  have  taken  form  in  connection 
with  the  fundamental  Presbyterian  idea. 

(i)  The  identity  of  the  Church  under  the  Old  and  {he  Neiu 
Covenant.  In  the  household  of  x\braham  ecclesiastical  organi- 
zation began,  "with  the  bond  of  a  covenant  and  the  seal  of  a 
sacrament ;"  and  through  the  elders  of  Israel  it  was  passed  on  to 
the  Christian  presbyterate,  in  which  it  shall  be  perpetuated  unto 
the  end  of  time.  "Catholic  and  universal  under  the  gospel  (not 
confined  to  one  nation  as  before  under  the  law),"  the  Church, 
though  existing  in  divers  imperfect  forms,  is,  through  both  dis- 
pensations and  all  ages,  one  and  the  same.^ 

'See  p.  536. 

"This  idea  is  implied  in  several  phrases  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  and  is 
unequivocally  set  forth  by  Presbyterian  theologians. 

"The  Christian  Church  is  not  to  be  contemplated  as  another  [than  that 
of  the   Patriarchal  and  the  Hebraic  era]  and  independent  organization  :  such 


The  Co)iciliar  Idea  405 

Stressing  this  Old  Testament  truth  so  strongly,  Presljyterian- 
ism  is  inclined  to  make  the  Old  Testament  Scri])tures  generally 
more  prominent,  both  in  its  polity  and  in  its  teaching,  than  do 
the  other  evangelical  churches. 

(2)  hifant  church  incuibcrship.  The  ecclesiastical  covenant 
made  with  Abraham  included  the  children  of  every  succeedhig 
generation  within  its  provisions ;  and  the  New  Covenant,  which 
is  essentially  like  unto  it,  nowise  "different  in  substance,"  does 
the  same.  Not  the  individual,  but  the  family,  which  in  its  nature 
is  organically  one,  offers  the  true  unit  of  church  membership. 
Accordingly  the  "visible  Church"  is  described  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith  as  consisting  of  "all  those  tliroughout  the  world  that 
profess  the  true  religion,  and  of  their  cJiildrcn/"^ 

Infants  of  Christian  parents,  therefore,  are  entitled  to  baptism, 
the  sign  and  seal  of  the  divine  covenant,  and  to  the  initial  church 
membership  into  which  it  admits  them.  They  are  subjects  of  the 
nurture,  watch-care,  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  must  be 
admitted  to  the  full  privileges  of  membership  as  soon  as  by  the 

a  conception  severs  at  a  stroke  the  vital  ties  which  bind  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New  into  living  unity,  robs  prophecy  of  all  significance,  and  renders 
the  Divine  dealing  with  mankind  prior  to  the  incarnation  an  inexplicable 
mystery."     (Morris,  "Theology  of  the  Westminster  Symbols,"  p.  615.) 

And  the  presbyterate,  believed  to  be  "the  ecclesiastical  institute"  of  all 
ages,  is  taken  as  the  external  form  and  sign  of  this  identity :  "The  unity  of 
the  Church,  through  all  dispensations  identical,  needs  a  living  institute  as 
well  as  a  canonical  word  to  thread  her  form  through  all  generations.  None 
but  the  office  of  presbyter  can  do  this.  The  patriarchal,  the  Levitical,  the 
Christian,  as  chief,  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  the  Reformed,  in  lines  of  sub- 
division, have  all  thus  far  had  the  elder,  of  some  name,  as  an  integral  factor 
of  government  in  some  degree,  and  the  presumption  is  fair  that  the  Angel 
of  the  covenant  is  with  this  office  till  the  end  of  the  world."  (McGiU, 
"Church  Government,"  p.  230.) 

^"Church  membership  is  the  birthright  of  all  who  are  born  of  Christian 
parents.  This  Christian  birthright  is  recognized  and  confirmed  in  the  bap- 
tism of  infants.  We  say  'the  baptism  of  infants,'  not  'infant'  baptism ;  be- 
cause the  latter  phrase  sanctions  the  popular  error  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  baptism,  and  that  the  ordinance  of  baptism  as  administered  to  infants  is 
not  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  a  sacrament,  but  only  a  ceremony  of  con- 
secration." (Van  Dyke,  "The  Church :  Her  Ministrv  and  Sacraments,"  p. 
74.) 


4o6  Christianity  as  Organised 

grace  of  God  they  are  enabled  to  make  a  personal  profession  of 
faith  in  Christ. 

(3)  Courts  in  gradation.  The  session  may  receive  or  ex- 
clude church  members ;  the  presbytery  may  unite  or  divide  con- 
gregations; the  synod,  presbyteries;  the  general  assembly,  syn- 
ods. The  records  of  the  session  are  reviewed  by  the  presbytery ; 
those  of  the  presbytery,  by  the  synod ;  those  of  the  synod,  by  the 
general  assembly.  The  appeal  of  the  session  is  to  the  presby- 
tery ;  that  of  the  presbytery,  to  the  synod ;  that  of  the  synod,  to 
the  general  assembly. 

If  the  decision  of  any  one  of  the  lower  courts  should  prove 
unsatisfactory,  there  is  a  larger  and  higlier  to  which  the  case 
may  be  submitted.  The  humblest  lay  member  of  the  Church  has 
the  right  of  an  appeal  from  an  adverse  decision  of  the  session, 
through  each  successive  court,  up  to  the  general  assembly,  the 
highest  of  all. 

Besides,  by  such  an  ascending  series  of  judicatories,  the  one- 
ness of  the  body  ecclesiastic  is  made  actual  and  visible.  Not  only 
local  congregations  but  one  far-extended  Church  is  organized, 
there  being  "the  same  power  in  every  tribunal  that  is  in  any 
tribunal,  whilst  the  power  of  the  greater  part  is  over  the  power 
of  the  smaller  part." 

(4)  Catholicity.  Presbyterian  organization,  it  is  held,  though 
necessary  to  a  formally  perfect  church,  is  not  necessary  to  a  true 
church.  The  various  Presbyterian  denominations,  therefore, 
seek  to  live  in  practical  and  cordial  fellowship  with  all  other 
evangelical  communions.  Holding  faith  above  form,  and  dis- 
criminating between  essential  and  non-essential  truths,  they  of- 
fer the  hand  of  brotherly  cooperation  to  any  religious  body 
whose  heart  is  as  their  heart  concerning  Christ  the  King. 

4.  Estimate  of  the  Presbyterian  Polity, 

Is  the  Presbyterian  system  one  of  ecclesiastical  republicanism? 
Not  if  this  word  be  permitted  to  bear  its  usual  significance.  For 
in  republicanism  the  representative  is  elected  for  a  limited  time 
— a  year  or  a  term  of  years — and  so  may  be  changed  to  suit  the 


The  Conciliar  Idea  407 

changing  views  and  wishes  of  his  constituency;  but  the  elder- 
ship is  for  hfe/  Calvin  has  said  with  reference  to  the  State: 
"Indeed,  if  these  three  forms  of  government  [monarchy,  aris- 
tocracy, democracy]  which  are  stated  by  philosophers,  be  consid- 
ered in  themselves,  I  shall  by  no  means  deny  that  either  aris- 
tocracy or  a  mixture  of  aristocracy  and  democracy,  far  excels 
all  others.""  Was  not  the  form  of  government  which  he  con- 
structed for  the  Church  a  "mixture  of  aristocracy  and  democ- 
racy"— with  the  former  element  largely  predominating? 

The  strength  of  the  Presbyterian  polity  is  in  its  conservatism. 
A  representative  conciliar  government,  it  is  neither  greatly  dif- 
fused nor  greatly  concentrated.  It  avoids  extremes — escaping, 
in  one  direction,  the  instabilities  of  restless  or  unenlightened  pop- 
ular feeling,  and,  in  the  opposite  direction,  the  committal  of  large 
governmental  power  into  the  hands  of  a  single  officer,  or  even 
of  an  exclusively  ministerial  council.  It  provides  what  Isaac 
Taylor  describes,  though  with  some  exaggeration,  as  "that  nec- 
essary balance  of  powers,  clerical  and  lay,  apart  from  which  the 
choice  must  always  lie  between  hierarchical  despotism  or  demo- 
cratic despotism ;  that  is  to  say,  between  an  unabated  spiritual 
supremacy  or  impracticable  and  ungovernable  popular  caprice." 
It  is  steady,  strong,  and  stable.^ 

But,  like  all  other  systems,  Presbyterianism  must  pay  the  price 
of  its  advantages.  Does  it  not  miss  the  benefit  of  the  people's 
constant  cooperation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  quickening 
and  aggressive  leadership  of  individual  superintendency,  on  the 
other?    Let  it  not  die  of  respectability. 

One  may  reasonably  believe  that  no  other  system  of  govern- 

^With  the  exception  noted  above,  p.  402,  n.  ^Institutes,  IV.,  xx.  8. 

^"Modern  Presbyterianism,  which,  take  it  for  all  in  all,  and  through  all 
its  fields  of  labor,  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  fruitful  forms 
of  Christian  organization.  .  .  .  Regarded  in  general  and  in  all  its  dimen- 
sions, as  a  Church  organization,  Presbyterianism  is  a  masterpiece.     .     .     . 

"There  is  in  the  world  no  moral  ascendency  of  any  force  or  forces  over 
national  character  and  life  equal  to  that  of  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland. 
The  discipline  its  churches  furnish  for  the  nation  is  unequaled  in  its  power 
and  thoroughness."     (Rigg,  "C!u;rch   Or'>.--!v;-'ntioi!,"  pp.   124,   141,   142.") 


4o8  Christianity  as  Organized 

ment  would  have  so  well  suited  the  prevailing  conditions  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation,  as  the  Presbyterial.  While  setting  its 
orderly  senate  of  rulers  and  judges  o\'er  against  the  hierarchy 
of  Rome,  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  committed  both  to  presby- 
ters and  to  people  as  large  responsibilities  as  they  were  ready  to 
accept  and  discharge.  It  would  hardly  be  maintained  that  con- 
gregational, or  prelatic,  or  Alethodist  churches,  for  example, 
would  have  proved  as  timely.  Nevertlieless,  it  does  not  follow 
that  this  notably  compact  and  symmetrical  system  is  equally  well 
suited  to  other  and  very  different  conditions.  Therefore  its  wis- 
dom is  shown  in  not  refusing  such  modifications  and  additions — • 
the  "rotary  eldership"  and  the  appointment  of  deaconesses,  for 
example — as  may  be  demanded  by  providential  calls  and  oppor- 
tunities. 


III. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  IDEA:  PRELATIC,  SUCCESSION AL. 

In  Congregationalism  the  Clmrch  is  governed  by  local  con- 
greg-ations,  each  legislating  solely  for  itself — a  pure  democracy; 
in  Presbyterianism.  by  elders  elected  by  the  peoi:)le — a  modified 
form  of  representative,  or  republican,  democracy;  in  Prelatic 
Episcopacy,  by  bishops,  in  wliose  election  the  people  may  or  not 
take  a  part — an  oligarchy  or  federation  of  monarchies. 

It  is  the  fundamental  principles  of  prelacy,  that  to  the  bishops 
of  the  Clmrch  has  been  intrusted,  b}'  Christ's  own  ordinance,  all 
governmental  authority.  Practically  it  may  be  found  expedient 
that  they  associate  with  themselves  other  ministers,  or  even  lay- 
men, in  this  governing  office — and  they  ought  to  do  what  is  ex- 
pedient ;  but  primarily  the  right  of  rule  inheres  in  them  alone. 
The  will  of  the  bishop,  officially  declared,  is  the  law  of  the 
Church.  Accordingly,  as  a  matter  not  of  courtesy  but  of  simple 
fact,  this  man  is  "Lord  Bishop." 

Now  the  simple  episcopal  office  is  a  natural  and  easily  justifi- 
able development.  Its  principle  is  no  other  than  that  of  a  strong 
executive.  That  it  should  have  arisen  in  the  Church  is  therefore 
not  a  matter  of  surprise.  In  its  primitive  form — that  of  the  pas- 
torship of  a  single  congregation — the  office,  as  every  one  will 
agree,  was  inevitable.  But  its  further  extension  was  hardly  less 
so.  As  congregations  multiplied,  the  demand  for  unity  of  doc- 
trine, liturgy,  and  discipline  would  be  enlarged,  so  as  to  call  for  a 
more  general  superintendence — the  supervision  of  a  single  minis- 
ter over  a  number  of  associated  churches.  Because  it  is  a  per- 
son, not  a  bcKly  of  persons,  a  leader  and  not  a  legislature,  that 
best  satisfies  the  demand  for  unity.  Thus  would  arise  the  dio- 
cesan episcopate.' 

^"For  in  recent  years  there  has  been  going  on  in  our  [the  Congregational] 
polity  a  process  of  development  which  reminds  one,  by  its  inner  and  almost 
unconscious    necessity,    of    the    natural    development    of    the    Episcopate,    as 

C409) 


4IO  •   Christianity  as  Organised 

The  prototype  is  found  in  the  New  Testament.  The  Apos- 
tles were  itinerant  general  superintendents.  Sent  forth  by  their 
Lord  as  witnesses  of  his  resurrection  and  as  divinely  illumined 
teachers  of  his  gospel,  they  also  exercised  a  fatherly  care,  more 
or  less  specific,  over  the  congregations  that  were  gathered  here 
and  there  through  their  own  and  others'  ministry.  It  could  hard- 
ly have  been  otherwise.  "Besides  those  things  that  are  without," 
says  the  farthest-traveling  evangelist  of  them  all,  "there  is  that 
which  presses  upon  me  daily,  anxiety  for  all  the  churches."  We 
also  find  Paul  associating  others  with  him,  tried  and  able  men, 
as  assistants  in  the  work,  and  leaving  them  in  tV.is  or  tliat  place — 
Timothy  in  Ephesus,  Titus  in  Crete — to  ordain  elders,  to  regu- 
late teaching  and  discipline,  to  set  things  in  order,  in  his  own 
absence. 

Is  it  not  reasonable,  then,  to  suppose  that  subsec[uently  to  the 
ministry  of  the  Apostles,  the  Christian  churches,  constantly  in- 
creasing in  number  and  subjected  to  various  perils  from  with- 
out and  within,  sliould  feel  the  need  of  some  similar  personal 
oversight?  In  a  word,  was  the  supervision  of  the  churches  a 
peculiar  feature  of  the  Apostolate,  transient  and  inimitable — like 
that  of  bearing  zvitncss  as  men  who  had  "seen  the  Lx>rd,"  or  that 
of  inspired  interpretation  of  the  facts  of  redemption — or  was  it 
a  service  that  might  be  possible  and  appropriate  in  the  ordinary 
circumstances  of  the  Church  ?     It  was  certainly  the  latter.' 

many  historians  agree  in  describing  it,  in  the  sub-apostolic  Church."  (New- 
man Smyth,  "Address  to  the  Episcopal  Clergy  of  Connecticut,"  1908.) 

"Many  Presbyterians  feel  the  inefficiency  of  the  Presbytery  very  keenly, 
and  are  prepared  to  advance  to  the  permanent  moderator  or  superintendent. 
Why  not  call  him  bishop?  The  tendency  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
toward  such  a  bishop,  who  will  give  the  Presbytery  an  executive  head  and 
make  it  more  efficient."     (C.  A.  Briggs,  in  "Church  Reunion,"  p.  49.) 

"It  may  confidently  be  affirmed  that,  where  Christianity  is  not  enfeebled 
by  adverse  influences,  its  visible  organization  will  always  tend  to  something 
of  an  episcopal  form,  however  much  the  name  of  episcopacy  may  be  repu- 
diated."    (Litton,  "The  Church  of  Christ,"  p.  3I4-) 

^"In  modern  Congregationalism  something  of  this  work  of  oversight  and 
ministerial  appointment  has  been  managed  by  the  home  missionary  Super- 
intendents of  the  various  states,  generally  with  assistants  working  under  them. 
.    .    .     We  might  call  them  diocesan  'apostles.'     Or,  if  you  please,  bishops. 


TJie  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         41 1 

Let  us  not  ignore,  in  the  study  of  ecclesiastical  origins,  the 
analogy  of  Church  and  State.  In  all  forms  of  civil  government, 
whetlicr  crude  or  highly  develo])ed.  whether  autocratic  or  free — 
with  no  exceptions  that  need  1)e  noted — administrative  officers 
appear  whose  functions  correspond,  in  a  true  and  distinct  sense, 
to  those  of  the  episcopate  in  various  Christian  churches.  They 
are  needed ;  they  come  to  be  because  they  must  be.  It  has  been 
taught,  indeed,  that  the  Church,  being  a  supernatural  institution, 
is  out  of  all  such  correspondence  with  the  State,  which  is  human 
and  natural.'  But  the  Churcli  too  is  human  and  natural,  as  well 
as  divine ;  and  the  resemblances  on  which  the  governmental  anal- 
ogy rests  are  by  no  means  factitious  or  superficial. 

I.  The  Apostolic  and  the  Sacerdotal  Idea  of  Bishops. 

When.  howcA-er,  the  question  is  asked,  whether  the  rise  and 
persistence  of  the  episcopate  be  a  regrettable  course  of  events — ■ 
whether  it  shall  be  regarded  as  development  or  excrescence — the 
answer  will  liave  to  take  cognizance  of  a  certain  obvious  dis- 
tinction. It  will  liave  to  recognize  the  distinction  between  the 
l)ure  apostolic  idea  of  general  visitation  or  superintendence,  and 
the  accretions  that  have  encumbered  and  corrupted  it  in  later 
times.  What  accretions?  Those  that  are  represented  by  the 
claim  to  apostolic  succession  and  sacerdotal  power.  The  opinion, 
either  hardened  into  a  dogma  or  practically  embodied  in  eccle- 
siastical canons,  that  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles  until  now 
an  unbroken  line  of  ordinations  to  the  episcopal  office  by  the 
imposition  of  hands  is  necessary  to  the  Church's  existence — to 
describe  the  rise  and  prevalence  of  this  assumption  as  regrettable 
would  be  to  use  an  extremely  inadequate  word.  It  has  been 
"branding  instead  of  beauty,"  not  development  but  disaster.    The 

presiding  over  a  definite  territory  but  with  only  a  moral  authority.  .  .  . 
Just  what  is  to  become  of  this  moral  episcopate  in  the  next  few  years  it  is 
not  possible  to  predict.  The  tendency  seems  to  be  to  make  the  Superin- 
tendency  an  elective  office,  with  a  general  supervision  over  all  the  churches, 
larger  as  well  as  smaller."  (Heermance,  "Democracy  in  the  Church,"  pp. 
129,  130.) 

'McTyeire.  "Catechism  of  Church  Government."  p.  49. 


412  Christianity  as  Organized 

difference  between  the  episcopal  idea  as  exemplified  in  the  first 
age  of  the  Church  by  the  Apostle  of  tlie  Gentiles  or  in  modern 
Christianity  by  Francis  Asbnry,  and  that  which  was  exempli- 
fied by  a  Leo  the  First  or  an  Archbishop  Laud,  is  the  difference 
between  a  Christly  pastoral  care  and  the  over-lordship  of  a  qurtsi- 
sacramental  authority. 

But  the  office  itself  cannot  be  fairly  held  responsible  for  the 
perversions  which  it  has  suffered.  To  believe  in  prayer  is  not  to 
accept  the  fancy  of  incantation;  to  belie\e  in  the  sacraments  is 
not  to  accept  baptismal  regeneration  or  transubstantiation ;  to 
believe  in  the  presbyterate  is  not  to  accept  the  priesthood ;  and  in 
like  manner  to  believe  in  the  episcopate  is  not  to  accept  ecclesi- 
astic monarchism?  Why  reject  a  great  and  resourceful  ofiice 
because  of  its  abuses — throwing  out  the  child  witli  the  bath? 
The  wisdom  of  a  modern  Lsrael's  cry  for  a  king — "that  our  king 
may  judge  us,  and  go  out  before  us,  and  fight  our  battles" — de- 
pends upon  "the  manner  of  the  king  that  shall  reign."  What 
claim  will  he  make  ?  with  what  power  shall  he  be  clothed  ? 

The  Reformers  rejected  apostolic  succession.  Denying  the  in- 
fallibility of  both  papal  and  conciliar  decrees,  and  taking  the  New 
Testament  as  their  final  court  of  appeal,  they  gained  such  knowl- 
edge of  the  Church  as  made  all  autocratic  or  sacerdotal  concep- 
tions of  it  impossible.  As  they  understood  Christianity,  a  church 
is  a  local  congregation  of  Christ's  followers  under  the  ministra- 
tion of  his  word  and  sacraments,  acknowledging  him  as  the  only 
Lord  and  Saviour:  the  Church  is  the  whole  number  of  Christ's 
followers  under  whatever  diverse  forms  of  organization.  That 
in  order  to  be  a  member  of  a  Christian  church  one  must  receive 
the  sacraments  at  the  hands  of  a  priest  who  had  been  ordained 
by  a  bishop  whose  own  ordination  might  be  traced  back  to  the 
apostle  Peter  or  some  other  of  the  Twelve,  was  no  part  of  the 
Reformers'  faith.  It  was  no  part  of  the  Christianity  which  they 
felt  themselves  called  to  proclaim  and  organize.  It  was  not  to 
them  believable  on  any  ground,  whether  of  reason  or  history  or 
New  Testament  teaching.  Consequently  they  held  themselves 
at  liberty  to  retain  or  to  discontinue  the  episcopal  office,  accord- 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         4^3 

ing  to  tlieir  best  judgment  of  the  circumstances  and  needs  of 
different  communities.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  discontinued 
except  in  those  countries — Denmark  and  Sweden,  for  instance — 
in  vvliich  the  king  and  not  the  Christian  teachers  and  ministers 
took  the  leachng  part  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Church. 

German  Lutheranism  might  ha\e  perpetuated  in  its  churches 
the  historic  hue  of  bishops  and  orchnations  had  it  so  desired ;  for 
as  many  as  three  Roman  CathoHc  bishops  were  numbered  among 
its  adherents.  But  it  set  no  vakie  upon  such  a  succession,  and 
made  no  use  of  it.  Cah'in  had  no  bishop  appointed  for  httle 
Geneva — unless  indeed  he  liimself,  though  a  layman,  be  regarded 
as  such  an  ofiicer.  Nor  coukl  he  find  any  episco])acy  in  tlie  New 
Testament  except  the  ministerial  oversight  of  the  Apostles.  He 
did,  however,  express  the  judgment  that  in  large  countries  a 
good  purpose  might  be  served  by  the  episcopal  office ;  and  similar 
views  may  be  quoted  from  Beza  and  from  Bucer.  John  Knox 
provided  for  bishops,  or  "superintendents,"  ten  in  number,  for 
the  Church  of  Scotland.'  But  Calvin  and  Knox  and  the  com- 
munions which  they  represented  believed  no  more  than  did 
Luther  in  a  tactual  or  sacerdotal  line  of  bishops  authorized  un- 
der the  hands  of  the  Apostles  to  preside  over  the  presbyters  and 
govern  the  Church. 

2.  Some  Historic  Peculiarities  of  the  English  Church. 

The  reorganization  of  the  English  Church  was  distinctly  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  any  other.  For  here  the  Reformation  was 
accompanied  b}'  a  politico-ecclesiastic  movement  that  had  no  vital 
comiection  with  it.  Henry  VHI.  was  in  no  real  sense  a  Prot- 
estant ;  but  neither  was  he  a  loyal  and  peaceable  Romanist.     He 

Mn  tlic  "First  Book  of  Discipline"  of  the  Scotch  Kirk  it  is  written  con- 
cerning the  Superintendents,  who  were  to  be  subject  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly: "These  men  must  not  be  suffered  to  live  as  your  idle  bishops  have  done 
heretofore,  neither  must  they  remain  where  gladly  they  would ;  but  they  must 
be  preachers  themselves,  and  such  as  may  not  make  long  residence  in  any 
place  till  their  kirks  be  planted  and  provided  of  ministers  or,  at  least,  of 
readers."  CBriggs,  "American  Presbyterianism,"  p.  41,  n.)  Cf.  Brown,  ''Life 
of  Knox."  Bk.  TT..  pp.  131,  132. 


414  Christianity  as  Organised 

must  be  sovereign  of  England  and  do  his  own  pleasure  in  Church 
as  well  as  in  State,  even  though  it  should  be  necessary  to  set  at 
defiance  the  authority  of  the  bishop  of  Rome.  The  chief  men 
of  the  kingdom  seemed  for  the  most  part  also  favorable  to  the 
assertion  of  this  independence  of  Rome.  At  all  events  they  easily 
fell  in  with  the  will  of  the  king;  and  accordingly  through  the 
action  of  Parliament  the  papal  supremacy  was  renounced,  and 
the  king  himself  made  supreme  governor  of  the  English  Church. 

Now  the  relation  of  the  bishops  to  the  king  was  close  and  sig- 
nificant. It  was  the  relation  afterwards  expressed  with  forceful 
extravagance  in  that  curt  maxim  (the  "war  crv"  of  the  Stuarts)  : 
"No  bishops,  no  king."  As  rulers  of  the  national  Church  under 
its  royal  headship,  they  must  be  faithful  supporters  of  the  Crown, 
w'hile  the  sovereign  on  his  part  vouchsafed  them  the  security  of 
his  favor  and  protection.  Besides,  when  people  are  accustomed 
to  the  episcopal  monarchy  in  the  Church,  they  will  take  more 
kindly  and  naturally  to  monarchy  in  the  State.  The  English 
bishop,  then,  must  not  be  displaced.  So  the  reformed  doctrines, 
which  had  already  begun  to  make  headway  in  the  kingdom,  found 
the  episcopacy  firmly  established,  a  national  as  well  as  an  eccle- 
siastic institution;  and  as  they  found  it  so  they  suffered  it  to  re- 
main.^ 

The  ordering  of  the  English  Church  at  the  Reformation,  like 
much  other  English  legislating,  was  in  the  way  of  compromise. 
This  would  naturally  prove  favorable  to  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech ;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  great  freedom  of  speech 
enjoyed  in  this  Church  on  all  questions,   religious,  theological, 

'"Sith,  therefore,  by  the  fathers  and  first  founders  of  this  commonwealth 
it  hath,  upon  great  experience  and  forecast,  been  judged  most  for  the  good 
of  all  sorts,  that  as  the  whole  body  politic  in  which  we  live  should  be  for 
strength's  sake  a  threefold  cable,  consisting  of  the  king  as  supreme  head 
over  all,  of  peers  and  nobles  under  him,  and  of  the  people  under  them ;  so 
likewise  that  in  this  conjunction  of  states  the  second  wreath  of  that  cable 
should,  for  important  respects,  consist  as  well  of  lords  spiritual  as  temporal. 
Nobility  and  prelacy  being  by  this  means  twined  together,  how  can  it  pos- 
sibly be  avoided  but  that  the  tearing  away  of  the  one  must  needs  exceedingly 
weaken  the  other,  and  by  consequence  impair  greatly  the  good  of  all  ?" 
(Hooker,  "Ecc.  Polity,"  Bk.  VTT..  sec.  t8  (4). 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         415 

and  ecclesiastic.  Accordingly  different  views  are  taught  by  its 
theologians,  now  as  heretofore,  with  respect  to  the  origin  and 
proper  authority  of  the  episcopal  office. 

It  is  not  with  these  variant  views  of  the  ecclesiologists,  how- 
ever, that  we  are  just  now  concerned,  but  rather  with  the  actually 
existent  forms  of  the  organization.  Here,  then,  is  to  be  found 
an  example  of  prelatic^  and  successional  episcopacy.  That  is  to 
sav,  the  bishops  constitute  the  supreme  order  in  the  ministry, 
choosing  men  for  ordination  to  the  inferior  orders,  exercising 
jurisdiction  over  them,  and  so  interpreting  their  own  prerogatives 
as  to  give  no  recognition  to  the  ministry  of  any  other  commun- 
ion than  those — namely,  the  Eastern,  the  Roman,  and  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal — which  are  regarded  as  standing  in  the  apos- 
tolic succession. 

It  is  true  that  for  a  number  of  years  after  the  renunciation  of 
papal  supremacy  the  dogma  of  the  divine  right  of  bishops  was 
not  emphasized  in  the  Church  of  England ;  and  it  is  a  historic 
fact  that  during  this  period  certain  men  without  episcopal  or- 
dination were  received  into  its  ministry.^  But  it  must  be  grant- 
ed that  this  does  not  seem  to  have  been  in  keeping  with  its  law 
as  contained  in  the  Preface  of  the  Ordinal.  The  opening  sen- 
tence of  this  Preface,  indeed,  which  is  the  same  as  when  first 
adopted  (in  1549).  presents  no  bar  to  non-episcopal  ordinations. 
It  reads  as  follows:  "It  is  evident  unto  all  men  diligently  read- 
ing the  Holy  Scripture  and  ancient  authors,  that  from  the  Apos- 
tles' time  there  have  been  these  orders  of  ministers  in  Christ's 
Church — Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons."  Now  in  this  carefully 
worded  assertion  there  is  claimed  for  the  three  designated  orders 

'Is  it  necessary  to  say  that  the  word  prelatic  is  here  used  in  no  offensive 
sense?  Dean  Armitage  Robinson  has  spoken  of  the  office  of  bishop  in  the 
Church  of  England  as  "an  episcopacy  which  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  a 
prelacy"  ("The  Vision  of  Unity,"  p.  13).  What  he  has  in  mind,  I  suppose, 
is  the  reasonable  and  brotherly  spirit  in  which  the  bishops  govern  their  dio- 
ceses, rather  than  the  theory  of  episcopal  authority  which  is  prevalent  in  the 
English  Church.  Such  a  spirit  is  also  characteristic,  we  may  believe,  of  the 
bisbop<;  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

"See  p.  279- 


4i6  Christianity  as  Organised 

of  the  ministry  only  priniitiveness,  not  the  exclusive  right  of 
ministration  in  the  Church.  But  the  same  is  not  true  of  the 
third  sentence  of  the  Preface.  In  this  sentence,  as  it  appeared  in 
the  Preface  of  1549.,  was  the  following:  "It  is  requisite  that  no 
man  (not  being  at  this  present  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon)  shall 
execute  any  of  them  [ministerial  functions],  except  he  be  called, 
tried  and  examined,  and  admitted,  according  to  the  form  here- 
after following."  This  would  seem  to  mean  that  those  who  were 
already  bishops,  priests,  or  deacons,  having  been  ordained  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  or  in  the  Church  of  England  after  its  severance 
from  Rome  (in  1534),  should  have  their  orders  recognized,  and 
be  permitted  to  exercise  ministerial  functions  in  the  Church  of 
England ;  but  that  all  others  must  be  ordained  by  a  bishop  ac- 
cording to  the  form  of  ordination  following. 

Why  is  it,  then,  that  all  others  were  not  thus  ordained  ?  It  has 
been  said,  ''Because  of  the  exuberance  of  charity  for  the  Re- 
formed communions  of  the  Continent,"  or  "Because  of  lax  ad- 
ministration of  the  law  and  conniving  at  offenses."  However 
this  may  be,  it  seems  historically  certain  that  the  trend  of  both 
teaching  and  administration  in  the  Church  took  no  account 
of  the  law  as  formulated  in  the  Preface  of  the  Ordinal,  and 
that  the  contrary  teaching  when  it  began,  under  Bishops  Ban- 
croft and  Laud,  was  at  first  the  work  of  a  small  party.  But  it 
was  the  work  of  a  very  bold  party,  and  finally  proved  trium- 
phant— and  disastrous  to  Church  and  State.'  As  Lord  Bacon 
has  said  concerning  it:  "The  beginnings  were  modest,  but  the 
extremes  were  violent."  It  may  also  be  remembered  in  this  con- 
nection that  in  the  Church  of  England  there  has  been  from  the 
first  an  uncommon  amount  of  compromise  and  of  inconsistency 
between  the  letter  of  the  law  and  the  practice  of  its  subjects  and 
administrators. 

'"The  system  pursued  by  Bancroft  and  his  imitators,  Bishops  Neile  and 
Laud,  .  .  .  was  just  such  as  low-born  and  little-minded  men,  raised  to 
power  by  fortune's  caprice,  are  ever  fond  to  pursue.  .  .  .  They  began 
preaching  the  divine  right,  as  it  is  called,  or  absolute  indispensability.  of  epis- 
copacy;  a  doctrine  of  which  the  first  traces,  as  I  apprehend,  are  found  about 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional        417 

To  return  for  a  moment  to  the  third  sentence  of  the  Preface. 
In  the  year  1662  this  sentence  was  changed  by  act  of  ParHament 
to  that  which  has  ever  since  been  retained,  as  follows :  "No  man 
shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to  be  a  lawful  Bishop,  Priest,  or 
Deacon  in  the  Church  of  England,  or  suffered  to  execute  any  of 
the  said  functions,  except  he  be  called,  tried,  and  examined,  and 
admitted  thereto,  according  to  the  form  hereafter  following,  or 
hafJi  had  former  episcopal  consecration  or  ordination."  Here 
the  phrase  "not  being  at  this  present  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon'- 
( which  of  course  was  no  longer  appropriate)  was  substituted  by 
the  more  explicit  language,  "or  hath  had  former  episcopal  con- 
secration or  ordination."  This  phrase,  like  its  predecessor,  cer- 
tainly left  no  place  in  the  conduct  of  the  public  offices  of  the 
English  Church  for  ministers  with,  for  example,  presbyterial  or- 
dination. And  in  strict  accordance  with  this  interpretation  of  it 
has  been  the  practice  of  this  Church  for  the  last  three  hundred 
years.'  Thus  has  the  sturdy  English  Establishment,  once  in  fra- 
ternal relations  with  the  great  body  of  evangelic  ecclesiasticism, 
been  sundered  from  it — 

A  dreary  sea  now  flows  between. 

the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  They  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  episcopal  suc- 
cession regularly  derived  from  the  Apostles.  .  .  .  And  as  this  affected  all 
the  Reformed  Churches  in  Europe  except  their  own,  .  .  .  they  began  to 
speak  of  them  not  as  brethren  of  the  same  faith,  united  in  the  same  cause, 
and  distinguished  only  by  differences  little  more  material  than  those  of 
political  commonwealths  (which  had  been  the  language  of  the  Church  of 
England  ever  since  the  Reformation),  but  as  aliens,  to  whom  they  were  not 
at  all  related,  and  as  schismatics  with  whom  they  held  no  communion ;  nay, 
as  wanting  the  very  essence  of  a  Christian  society."  (Hallam,  "Constitu- 
tional History  of  England,"  Vol.  I.,  ch.  vii.,  pp.  387,  388.) 

'The  First  Prayer  Book  of  King  Edward  VI.  (London,  recent  reprint)  ; 
"The  Anglican  Ordinal,"  Annotated  by  Bloomfield  Jackson,  M.A.,  pp.  17,  18. 

It  was  this  same  Parliament  that,  in  an  Act  of  Uniformity,  forbade  any 
person  to  "presume  to  consecrate  and  administer  the  holy  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  before  he  be  ordained  a  priest  by  Episcopal  consecration,  on 
pain  of  forfeiture  for  every  offense  of  one  hundred  pounds."  (Neal,  "History 
of  the  Puritans,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  240.) 
27 


41 8  Christianity  as  Organised 

3.  Affinity  of  Apostolic  Succession  and  Sacerdotalism. 

Now  the  dogma  of  apostolic  succession  is  closely  affiliated  with 
sacerdotalism.  One  might  imagine  either  of  them  as  existing- 
without  the  other;  l)ut  historically  they  go  together.'  And  there 
is  a  reason  for  it  in  the  two  dogmas  themselves.  Because  it 
may  well  be  asked,  Why  the  absolute  necessity  for  this  un- 
broken line  of  the  laying  on  of  hands?  Is  it  a  mere  formal  con- 
tinuity? On  the  contrary,  must  it  not,  as  its  justifying  expla- 
nation, convey  some  special  grace  to  its  recipient  ?  And  what  is 
this  grace  which  is  given  under  the  bishop's  hands  in  ordination, 
if  not  the  grace  of  priesthood?  What  does  it  empower  the  or- 
dinand  to  do,  if  not  to  offer  sacrifice,  and  in  his  turn  to  im- 
part a  sacramental  grace  to  communicants  at  tlie  Lord's  Sup- 
per? So  the  two  ideas  united,  and  the  two  forms  fitted  to- 
gether. 

Accordingly  we  find  that  in  entire  accord  with  the  general 
favor  shown  by  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  Preface  of  the 
Ordinal,  to  the  dogma  of  the  apostolic  succession,  is  its  distinct 
and  specific  favorableness,  in  the  Ordinal  and  Offices,  to  sacer- 
dotalism. For  the  second  order  of  the  ministry  is  here  a  "priest- 
hood," the  presbyter  a  "priest."  "Whether  we  call  it  a  priest- 
hood, a  presbytership,  or  a  ministry,  it  skilleth  not,"  says  Richard 
Hooker,  "although  in  truth  the  word  presbyter  doth  seem  more 
fit  and  in  propriety  of  speech  more  agreeable  than  priest  with 
the  drift  of  the  gospel.  .  .  .  The  Holy  Ghost  throughout 
the  body  of  the  New  Testament  making  mention  of  them  [min- 
isters] doth  not  anywhere  call  them  priests."  But  to  many  min- 
isters of  the  Church  of  England — as  many  as  a  third  of  the 
whole  number,  probably — their  ministry  is  conceived  of  and  prac- 
ticed as  a  priesthood.     They  profess  to  be,  in  the  literal  sense  of 

^"You  may  follow  the  track  of  the  Reformation,  and  mark  how  all  the 
churches  which  took  part  in  that  movement,  save  only  the  Church  of  England 
and  a  possible  fraction  of  Scandinavian  Christendom,  forfeited  with  the  epis- 
copate the  organic  conditions  of  true  sacramental  life."  (Canon  Liddon, 
Sermon  on  Apostolic  Labors,  in  "Clerical  Life  and  Work,"  p.  276.  Cf. 
Gore,  "Mission  of  the  Church,"  Lect.  I.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         4^9 

the  word,  priests.  Not  the  ministration  of  God's  word,  but  the 
offering  of  sacrifice  in  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  mediation  of 
sacramental  grace  to  the  people,  they  regard  as  the  most  sig'- 
nificant  features  of  their  calhng.  This,  the}'  insist,  is  t'lc  ariicle 
of  the  standing  or  falhng  Church ;  this  is  what  makes  a  church — 
the  priesthood.  And  it  is  for  this  that  a  bishop  hneally  descended 
from  the  Apostles  is  necessary — he  alone  can  confer  priestly  or- 
ders. No  Church  without  a  priesthood,  no  priesthood  without 
episcopal  ordination,  no  episcopal  ordination  without  "apostolic 
succession."  A  line  of  bishops  would  be  comparatively  a  small 
matter  w^ere  it  not  that  without  it  there  could  be  no  line  of 
priests.' 

Let  it  be  admitted,  then,  that  just  as  evangelicalism  rather 
than  sacerdotalism  is  in  accord  with  the  Articles  of  Religion,  so 
sacerdotalism  rather  than  evangelicalism  is  in  accord  w-ith  the 
Offices  and  the  Ordinal.  But  it  is  undoubtedly  a  strangely  in- 
congruous outcome :  a  man  claiming  to  be  known  as  a  successor 
of  the  Apostles,  and  yet  bearing  the  name  of  priest,  which  no 
Apostle,  even  with  Judaism  just  passing  into  Christianity,  ever 
bore,  and  standing  to  minister  at  an  altar  of  sacrifice,  where 
no  Apostle  ever  stood. 

4,  Forms  of  Government  in  the  English  Church. 

This  national  church,  as  authorized  and  established  by  law,  is 
a  clergy-church.  The  laity  as  such  have  no  part,  either  directly 
or  through  representation,  in  its  government,  and  almost  none 
in  its  work.    To  borrow  the  language  of  civics,  they  are  subjects, 


^The  Living  Church,  in  a  recent  editorial  utterance,  states  the  case  very 
plainly  in  connection  with  a  question  of  Church  union  :  "Thus  the  real  issue 
is  not  over  the  'historic  episcopate'  but  over  the  historic  priesthood.  .  .  . 
Only  a  Church  with  Bishops  can  secure  priests ;  but  unless  a  Church  wanrs 
priests,  it  might  better  steer  clear  of  Bishops.  The  ultimate  question  be- 
tween Churchmen  and  Protestants  turns  upon  the  priesthood." 

"If  the  Bishop  is  lowered  [by  the  Puritans],  it  is  because  he  is  the  source 
of  the  Priesthood.  If  the  Sacraments  are  disparaged,  it  is  to  sap  the  ven,'^ 
foundation  of  things  sacramental,  which  derive  their  being  from  the  office 
of  the  Priest."     (Arthur  Lowndes,  in  "Church  Reunion,"  p.  310.) 


4'20  Christianity  as  Organised 

not  citizens/  Neither  has  the  congregation  any  voice  in  the  se- 
lection of  its  ministers.  Pastoral  charges  are  ''livings"  held  by 
patrons,  more  than  half  of  whom  are  private  persons,  who  nom- 
inate the  pastors,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  diocesan  bishop. 

No  roll  of  membership  is  kept  in  the  churches ;  and  it  seems 
difficult  to  determine  who  are  properly  church-members,  wheth- 
er, all  baptized  persons,  all  who  have  been  confirmed,  or  all  com- 
municants. All  baptized  persons  in  the  land  are  claimed  as 
.rightfully  under  the  care  and  go\ernment  of  the  Church,  though 
probably  more  than  half  of  them  are  affiliated  with  other  Chris- 
tian communions.  There  is  no  moral  discipline — "practicall}- 
none  for  ministers,  confessedly  none  for  private  members."" 

The  bishops  of  the  twenty-four  senior  sees  have  seats  in  the  Upper  House 
of  ParHament  as  spiritual  lords — the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  ranking  as 
'the  first  peer  of  the  realm.  A  cathedral  (or  bishop's)  church  is  governed 
by  a  chapter  consisting  of  a  dean  and  (usually  four)  canons.  It  is  by  the 
cathedral  chapter  nominally  that  the  bishop  is  elected,  on  nomination  of  the 
Cro>vn.  But  permission  is  not  given  to  elect  any  other  than  the  royal  nom- 
inee, and  if  he  be  not  elected  iti  twelve  days  the  Crown  appoints ;  so  that  the 
•nomination  is  final  and  the  election  by  the  chapter  meaningless — a  mechan- 


^"Hereupon  we  hold  that  God's  Clergy  are  a  State  which  hath  been  and 
will  be,  as  long  as  there  is  a  Church  upon  earth,  necessarily  by  the  plain 
word  of  God  himself;  a  State  whereunto  the  rest  of  God's  people  must  be 
subject,  as  touching  things  that  appertain  to  their  souls'  health."  (Hooker, 
"Rcc.  Polity,"  Bk.  HI.,  sec.  ii,  pp.  333,  334.) 

"The  laity,  left  without  work,  have  almost  of  necessity  remained  without 
•jieal."     (Westcott,  "Social  Aspects  of  Christianity,"  p.  79.) 

""The  cessation  of  indulgences  among  us  [in  the  Church  of  England]  is 
simply  coextensive  with  the  cessation  of  that  godly  discipline  which  must 
exist  in  every  well-ordered  church."  (Blunt,  "Dictionary  of  Doctrinal  and 
Historical  Theology,"  Art.  "Indulgences.") 

If  no  other  reason  could  be  given  for  the  lack  of  discipline,  the  existing 
•relation  between  Church  and  State  would  be  sufficient :  "But  the  cause  of  the 
decay  of  moral  discipline  in  our  own  Church  has  been  a  different  one — the 
peculiar  relation  in  which  the  Church  stands  to  the  State.  .  .  .  What 
right  had  the  Church  to  hamper  her  liberty  to  express  and  enforce  by  moral 
discipline  on  her  own  members  the  unchanging  law  of  Christ?  .  .  .  No 
Christian  society  can  be  healthy  unless  there  is  some  obvious  means  by 
which  those  acting  in  open  defiance  of  Christian  law  shall  forfeit,  not  the 
privileges  of  citizenship,  but  the  privileges  of  Christian  communion."  (Gore, 
"The  Mission  of  the  Church,"  pp.  93,  95,  97.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Succcssional        421 

ical  bow  to  ecclesiastic  antiquity.  As  to  who  the  appointee  shall  be,  it  wonkl 
seem  to  depend  somewhat  upon  which  political  party  chances  to  be  in  power 
at  the  time.  Bishops,  moreover,  are  compelled  under  severe  legal  penalties 
to  ordain  the  nominee  thus  brought  before  them.^ 

Bishops  are  assisted  in  the  visitation  of  parishes  and  in  the  government 
of  the  diocese  by  archdeacons  and  rural  deans. 

There  is  a  series  of  ecclesiastical  tribunals,  the  highest  court  of  appeals 
being  the  sovereign  himself  in  council. 

The  two  legislative  bodies  of  the  Church  are  the  Convocations  of  Can- 
terbury and  York.  Each  of  these  bodies  consists  of  two  houses,  an  Upper 
and  a  Lower — the  Upper  House  being  made  up  of  the  diocesan  bishops, 
presided  over  by  the  archbishop,  and  the  Lower  House  of  archdeacons,  deans, 
and  representatives  of  the  lower  clergy.  These  convocations  can  be  convened 
only  under  the  authority  of  a  writ  from  the  Crown  ;  and  their  decisions  be- 
come law  only  when  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament.  The  Archbishop-  of 
Canterbury  is  the  titular  head  of  the  Church,  but  nothing  more;  its  real  head 
is  the  King  of  England. 

The  national  Parliament,  indeed,  is  tl;e  hi' (best  law-making  body  of  the 
Church.  From  which  order  of  things  it  follows  that,  although  laymen  are 
excluded  from  all  ecclesiastical  councils,  the  Church  itself  is  under  their 
supreme  control.  Not  only  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  the  sovereign  of  the 
realm,  a  layman,  but  the  members  of  the  House  of  Parliament  are.  with  the 
exception  of  the  "spiritual  lords,"'  either  laym.en  or  not  chr.rchmen  at  all. 
They  represent  Scotland  and  Ireland  as  well  as  England,  and  are  not  chosen- 
— any  more  than  are  the  senators  and  congressmen  of  the  United  States— 
with  reference  to  ecclesiastical  relations  or  religious  faith.  They  may  be 
Nonconformists,  Roman  Catholics,  Jews,  agnostics.^ 

^This  mode  of  episcopal  appointment  is  strongly  condemned  by  prominent 
English  churchmen :  "It  is  quite  clear  that  in  the  primitive  ages  the  voice  of 
the  lay  people  in  the  choice,  and  their  'acclamation'  and  assent  in  the  ordi« 
nation  of  the  clergy,  whether  bishops  or  priests,  were  by  no  means  disre-. 
garded.  ...  It  would  seem  to  be  alike  a  corruption  of  the  primitive 
practice  to  confine  such  choice  absolutely  to  the  clergy,  whether  bishop  or 
pope,  or  to  let  it  fall  altogether  into  the  hands  of  a  lay  government."' 
(Moberly,  "The  Administration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  p.  199.) 

^"The  Anglican  Ordinal,"  annotated  by  Bloomfield  Jackson ;  Articles  on 
the  "Church  of  England"  in  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica,  and  the  New  International  Encyclopedia. 

When  religious  tests  were  abolished,  so  that  adherents  of  any  religion  or 
of  none  at  all  became  eligible  to  seats  in  the  national  Parliament,  a  strange 
result  followed.  "Men  whose  distinctive  note  was  dissent  from  the  Church, 
were,  by  a  constitutional  change  which  enlarged  and  benefited  the  State,  in- 
vested with  legislative  authority  over  the  church  they  dissented  from ;  and 
men  the  Church  could  not  truthfully  recognize  as  fully  or  adequately  Chris- 
tian became,   by  civil   action   and   on  civil  ground.s,   lawgivers   for  the  very 


422  Christianity  as  Organised 

Numerous  benevolent  institutions,  such  as  hospitals,  asylums, 
and  homes  for  the  poor,  are  generously  maintained :  and  much 
evangelistic  and  social  work  among  the  poor  is  done  by  the 
Church  Army — an  institution  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  nota- 
ble example  of  the  Salvation  Army  of  "General"  William  Booth. 

5.  Extension  of  the  English  Church  to  America. 

The  English  Church  has  been  extended  to  the  Colonies  of  En- 
gland in  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  our  American  Colonies  it 
was  planted  at  an  early  date  of  their  history.  In  the  oldest  of 
them  all,  Church  and  State  began  together.  For  the  fleet  that 
brought  the  colonists,  in  1607,  to  the  rude  riverside  in  the  Vir- 
ginia wilderness,  brought  with  them  the  Prayer  Book  and  the 
Episcopal  m.inister.  The  building  of  a  house  of  worship  and 
of  the  cabins  of  the  people  went  on  side  by  side ;  and  a  few  weeks 
after  the  landing  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  in  the  first 
church  edifice — "a  pen  of  poles  with  a  sail  for  a  roof.'" 

In  Virginia,  Maryland,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  the  Carolinas, 
and  Georgia  the  English  Church  was  established  by  law.  The 
Colonies  were  included,  during  their  whole  history,  in  the  dio- 
cese of  the  Bishop  of  London.  But  his  oversight  of  them  was 
a  very  "shadowy  superintendency" — in  name  only."  Never  did 
they  enjoy  the  benefit  of  an  episcopal  visitation.     Hence  there 

church  that  refused  them  recognition."  (Fairbairn,  "Catholicism,"  p. 
288:) 

"The  most  sacred  questions  of  doctrine  and  morals  are  not  decided  in  the 
last  resort  by  the  commissioned  guardians  of  the  faith,  but  by  accomplished 
lawyers,  who  may  or  may  not  be  Christians.  .  .  .  We  can  indeed  defend 
existing  arrangements  if  we  can  suppose  that  St.  Paul  would  have  allowed 
the  questions  pending  between  him  and  the  Galatian  Judaizers,  or  the  Corin- 
thian deniers  of  the  Resurrection,  to  be  settled  by  the  nearest  proconsul." 
(Liddon,  "Clerical  Life  and  Work,"  p.  304.) 

'Cooke,  "Virginia,"  p.  20. 

"It  seems  to  have  been  a  mere  accidental  circumstance  that  attached  the 
Colonies  to  the  see  of  London.  "At  the  first  settlement  of  the  country  the 
then  Bishop  of  London  had  chanced  to  be  a  stockholder  and  a  member  of 
council  in  the  'Virignia  Company.'  This  fact  gave  him  a  vague,  advisory 
oversight  of  its  afifairs.  His  successors  for  nearly  a  century  followed  his 
example  until  it  became  a  prescriptive-  right  of  that  see.     Bishop  Compton, 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         423 

were  110  ordinations  to  the  ministry  and  no  confirmations;^  and 
though  the  clergy's  need  of  (HscipHne  was  imperative  and  noto- 
rious.' none  was  exercised  over  them.  Tn  fact,  the  ecclesiastical 
situation  was  such  as  to  make  discipline  an  impossihility. 

Repeated  efforts  were  made  to  haA-e  a  bisliop  consecrated  for 
the  Colonies;  but  all  in  vain.  "For  a  hundred  and  seventy-five 
}'ears,"  says  Dr.  S.  D.  McConnell,  ''the  Church  in  America  was 
a  Japhet  in  search  of  a  father.  The  chapter  now  before  us  is 
the  story  of  the  long,  wearisome,  pitiful,  des])airing'  effort  to 
obtain  that  office  without  which  the  Church  could  not  live."  Ob- 
\iously  either  the  apostolic  idea  of  church  organization,  or  the 
apostolic  spirit  of  labor  and  self-devotion,  or  both,  were  lacking. 
"Friend  and  foe  alike  were  possessed  of  the  idea"" — so  we  are 
told — "that  the  office  involved  the  trappings  of  worldly  estate. 
All  efforts  to  secure  an  American  bishop  involved  efforts  to  se- 
cure for  him  an  income  of  at  least  a  thousand  pounds,  a  large 
sum  in  those  days.'"*  And  in  those  same  days  it  came  to  pass  that 
I-'rancis  Asbury  went  his  way  throughout  the  wild  Colonies,  on 
horseback  or  otherwise,  ^xt  thousand  miles  a  year,  infirm  in 
health  yet  unremitting  in  episcopal  labors,  on  an  annual  salary 
of  "at  least"'  eighty  dollars. 

Nor  was  it  simply  the  difficulty  of  providing  the  bishop's  "trap- 
pings of  worldly  estate'"  that  stood  in  the  way.  The  people. 
Episcopalians  as  well  as  others,  were  apprehensive  lest,  if  a  bish- 

in  1703,  had  it  confirmed  to  him  and  his  successors  by  an  'Order  in  Council.' 
But  the  supervision  which  the  Bishop  of  London  could  give  to  churches 
farther  awa}'  than  the  heart  of  Australia  now  is  was  worth  but  little." 
(McConnell,  "Historj'  of  American  Episcopal  Church,"  p.  175.) 

'The  first  Protestant  Episcopal  bishop,  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  was  proba- 
bly, and  ihe  second,  Dr.  William.  White,  was  certainly  never  confirmed. 
Note  that  l)aptized  persons  could  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  without 
confirmation,  if  they  were  "ready  and  desirous  to  be  confirmed." 

'"These  colonies  [Virginia  and  Maryland  particularly]  became  a  refuge 
and  resort  for  the  thriftless  and  profligate  clergy  of  England,  who  were 
glad  to  escape  from  their  debts  and  difficulties  at  home,  and  whose  friends 
were  so  happy  to  get  rid  of  them  that  they  aided  in  securing  for  them 
assured  positions  and  salaries  on  the  distant  continent."  (Tiffany,  "Hist. 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  pp.  266,  267.) 

^Tiffany,  "History  of  the  Episcopal  Church,"  pp.  277,  278. 


424  Christianity  as  Organised 

op  were  appointed,  Parliament  might  confer  upon  him  such  pow- 
ers— that  of  holding  bishops'  courts,  for  instance — as  would  in- 
fringe upon  the  liberties  of  the  Colonies. 

6.  Organization  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

When  the  War  of  the  Revolution  was  over,  the  Church  of 
England  had  ceased  to  exist  in  the  victorious  federated  Colonies. 
What  did  remain?  Only  a  dispirited  remnant  of  Episcopal  con- 
gregations, with  deserted  parishes,  dilapidated  churches,  apathet- 
ic or  perplexed  adherents,  and  no  general  government  or  bond  of 
union. 

The  movement  for  bringing  the  churches  together  into  a  gen- 
eral organization  was  begun  in  1782,  the  same  year  in  which  the 
preliminary  treaty  of  peace  between  England  and  the  United 
States  was  signed.  For  it  was  in  that  year  that  the  rector  of 
Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  Dr.  \\^illiam  ^^^lite  (afterwards 
bishop),  issued  his  pamphlet,  "The  Case  of  the  Episcopal 
Churches  in  the  United  States  Considered."  Dr.  White  was  a 
believer  in  the  expediency  but  not  in  the  divine  right  of  epis- 
copacy. He  was  troubled  by  no  doubt  that  there  could  be  "a 
church  without  a  bishop."  His  position  was  that  of  Jewell, 
Hooker,  Hoadly,  Cranmer,  Usher,  and  others — may  we  not  say, 
of  the  Church  of  England  generally  in  their  day? — as  to  the 
divine  necessity  of  episcopal  ordination.'  Accordingly  the  gist 
of  the  proposal  made  in  his  pamphlet  was  that  a  general  con- 
vention be  held,  composed  of  representatives  of  the  churches, 
and  a  presbyter  elected  as  permanent  president,  who,  together 
with  certain  other  presbyters  associated  with  him,  should  exer- 
cise the  functions  ordinarily  performed  by  a  bishop,  including 
the  function  of  ordination.  This,  however,  was  to  be  regarded 
as  only  a  temporary  arrangement.     The  intention  was  to  "pro- 

'"So  late  as  1830,  in  a  letter  to  his  dear  friend  and  son  in  the  gospel, 
Bishop  Hobart,  ...  he  remarks  in  a  note :  .  .  .  'In  regard  to  the 
episcopacy,  I  think  that  it  should  be  sustained  as  the  government  of  the 
Church  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  but  without  criminating  the  ministry 
of  other  churches,  as  is  the  course  taken  by  the  Church  of  England."  (Mc- 
Connell,  "American  Episcopal  Church."  pp.  293,  294.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Siiccessional        425 

cure  the  succession''  as  soon  as  this  could  conveniently  be  done. 
But  the  proposed  plan  of  government  met  with  opposition, 
especially  in  the  North,  and  the  acknowledgment  by  England  of 
American  independence  soon  afterwards  promised  to  open  an- 
other way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

Meantime  meetings  were  held — consisting  of  a  few  ministers 
and  laymen,  or  of  ministers  alone — for  the  purpose  of  delib- 
erating on  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  and  effecting  if  possible  the 
desired  organization.  But  with  the  establishment  of  the  na- 
tional independence  a  new  obstacle  to  the  securing  of  an  Amer- 
ican successional  episcopate  appeared :  the  English  prelates  were 
prohibited  by  law  from  consecrating  a  bishop  without  requiring 
of  him  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown — which,  of 
course,  was  out  of  the  question  under  what  had  now  become  a 
foreign  government. 

This  obstacle,  however,  was  evaded ;  and  not  long  afterwards 
it  was  removed.  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  an  Episcopal  pastor  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  evaded  it.  Having  been  selected  for  the 
episcopacy  at  a  meeting  of  a  few  clergymen  in  Connecticut,  he 
obtained  consecration,  in  the  fall  of  1784,  at  the  hands  of  cer- 
tain Scotch  non-juring  bishops  at  Aberdeen,  Scotland ;  and  he 
was  accepted  as  bishop  of  Connecticut.  Two  and  a  half  years 
afterwards,  on  February  4,  1787,  the  legal  obstacle  having  in 
the  meantime  been  removed  by  act  of  Parliament,  two  other 
American  Episcopal  clergymen,  Dr.  William  White  and  Dr. 
Samuel  Provoost,  were  consecrated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, in  Lambeth  Chapel,  for  an  independent  American  Epis- 
copal Church.  At  a  convention  held  in  September,  1789,  these 
three  bishops  were  formally  recognized,  a  Prayer  Book  adopted, 
a  constitution  and  canons  established ;  and  thus  the  organization 
of  this  new  religious  body,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  was  completed. 

7.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Compared  with  the 
English  Church. 
In  form  of  government,  especially  with  respect  to  the  Church's 
relation  to  the  State  and  to  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  the 


426  Christianity  as  Organised 

laitv,  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  English  and  tlie 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  As  to  relation  to  the  State,  neither 
the  Episcopal  nor  any  other  ecclesiastical  body  could  have  put 
forth  the  effort  to  gain  legal  "establishment"  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  with  the  slightest  hope  of  success.  Nor  did  any  of 
the  various  churches  make  such  an  effort.  Freedom  in  religion 
as  well  as  in  civil  government  was  the  spirit  of  the  young  Re- 
public of  the  West.  Both  rulers  and  people,  whether  Christians 
or  unbelievers,  were  averse  to  all  alliance  of  Church  and  State. 
And  if  the  less  worthy  motive  of  denominational  jealousy  was 
ready  to  bring  its  pressure  to  bear  in  the  same  direction,  it  need 
not  be  wondered  at. 

Also  as  to  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  the  laity,  the  or- 
ganizing convention  of  1789  made  a  great  step  forward.  For 
in  that  convention  the  Church  decided  to  admit  the  laity  to  a 
large  share  in  its  government.  And  this  too  was  in  accord  with 
the  ideas  and  spirit  of  the  new  democratic  State  under  which 
its  lot  was  cast — as  well  as  with  tlie  ideas  and  spirit  of  primitive 
Christianity.^ 

Indeed,  it  is  only  in  a  mild  sense  of  the  word  that  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  may  be  called  prelatic.  But  it  may  be 
described  as  in  government  strictly  "successional."  That  is  to 
say,  in  their  attitude  toward  other  churches,  the  American  daugh- 
ter and  the  Anglican  mother  stand  side  by  side.  While  both  are 
willing  to  recognize  "the  Christians  of  other  churches,"  neither 
wdll  give  anv  recognition  to  "the  churches  of  other  Christians" 
— unless,  indeed,  these  be  Roman  or  Orthodox  Eastern  Chris- 
tians. Neither  will  invite  ministers  of  other  churches  into  its 
pulpits.'    Only  priests  have  received  from  Christ  the  grace  which 

^"From  government  by  bishops,  themselves  the  creatures  of  the  king,  to 
government  by  a  convention  made  up  of  popularly  selected  bishops,  priests, 
and  laymen,  is  a  tremendous  leap.  When  the  convention  is  composed  of 
men  who  had  been  born  and  reared  and  had  their  habits  fixed  under  another 
ecclesiastical  system,  the  wonder  at  its  success  becomes  still  greater."  (Mc- 
Connell,  "History  of  American  Episcopal  Church,"  pp.  265,  266.) 

"Ts  there  an  exception  to  this  rule?  At  the  Episcopal  General  Convention 
of  1907,  canon   19  was  amended  as   follows:   "[Nothing  herein   shall   be   so 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         427 

enables  men  to  impart  grace  in  conducting-  the  scrsiccs — espe- 
cially absolution  and  the  Lord's  Supper — of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church.  No  other  could  do  it  even  if  he  should  be  per- 
mitted and  should  make  the  attempt.  His  performance  would 
have  no  more  effect  than  would  the  signature  of  any  private  per- 
son to  an  act  of  a  state  legislature.^  Any  contemporaneous  Prot- 
estant church  is  described  in  the  Canons  and  in  the  denomina- 
tional literature  as  a  "denomination"  or  "communion"  or  "other 
body  of  Christians"  or  "religious  body"  or  "organized  religious 
body"  or  "sect"  or  "company  of  Christians"  or  "separated  breth- 
ren" or  "organized  association  of  believers"  (the  descriptive 
terms  are  numerous  but  carefully  chosen),  in  contradistinction 
to  "this  Church"  or  "the  Church"  or  "the  American  Church."'' 

construed  as]  to  prevent  the  Bishop  of  any  Diocese  or  Missionary  District 
from  giving  permission  to  Christian  men,  who  are  not  ministers  of  this 
Church,  to  make  addresses  in  the  Church  on  special  occasions."  This  action 
was  deplored  by  High  Churchmen.  A  petition — in  which  ministers  of  other 
churches  were  referred  to  as  "so-called  Christian  men" — sigiied  by  over 
eleven  hundred  presbyters  of  the  Church,  was  presented  to  the  Bishops,  ask- 
ing that  the  amendment  be  rescinded  or  interpreted.  But  on  the  other  hand 
this  petition  was  adversely  criticised  by  many  of  their  brethren,  and  the 
language  of  the  amendment  itself  was  condemned  as  disrespectful  to  the 
ministry  of  other  churches.  "The  amendment  cast  discredit  on  the  ministry 
of  all  churches  outside  our  communion  by  its  use  of  the  words :  'Christian  men 
who  are  not  ministers  of  this  Church.'  If  the  canon  needed  to  be  amended, 
.  .  .  it  should  have  read :  'Christian  men  and  Christian  ministers  who  are 
not  ministers  of  this  Church.'"     {The  Churchman,  November  28,  1908.) 

'"I  cannot  be  charged  with  presumption  or  exclusiveness  or  narrowness  or 
disrespect  because  I  do  not  invite  my  brethren  to  attempt  to  do  what  I  am 
persuaded  they  have  no  right  to  do  if  they  could,  and  am  satisfied  they  can- 
not do  if  they  would.  Would  any  one  feel  aggrieved  if  he  were  the  guest  of 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  was  not  asked  to  put  his  signature  to  par- 
dons, or  Acts  of  the  Legislature?"  (The  Right  Rev.  Franklin  Seymour,  in 
"Church  Reunion,"  p.  176.) 

"The  most  serious  exception  I  know  is  the  reference  in  the  Preface  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Prayer  Book  to  "the  different  religious  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  in  these  States"  organizing  their  "respective  Churches"  — 
which  looks  as  if  it  might  be  a  relic  of  the  work  of  Dr.  White  in  the  "Pro- 
posed Book"  of  1785.  "The  various  religious  denominations  in  the  country 
are  dignified  in  the  Prayer  Book  by  the  nsme  of  Churches."  (George 
Hodges,  D.D.,  "The  Episcopal  Church,"  p.  35.')  But  Dr.  Hodges,  though 
writing  in  a  bright  and  brotherly  spirit,  does  not  so  "dignify"  them. 


4^8  Christianity  as  Organized 

The  voices  of  the  laymen  are  strong  and  influential  in  the  church  councils. 
No  law  can  be  enacted  without  their  concurrence. 

The  ministry  is  constituted  in  the  same  three  orders,  and  with  substan- 
tially the  same  powers  and  duties,  as  in  the  Church  of  England.  The  canon- 
ical age  for  admission  to  the  diaconate  is  twenty-one  years ;  to  the  priest- 
hood, twenty-four  years;  to  the  episcopate,  thirty  years.  An  interval  of  at 
least  one  year  must  intervene  between  ordination  to  the  diaconate  and  to 
the  priesthood. 

Laymen  may  be  licensed  by  the  bishop  as  lay-readers.  They  must  not 
wear  strictly  clerical  vestments  or  deliver  sermons  of  their  own  composition, 
but  are  authorized  to  minister  to  the  congregation  by  conducting  the  service 
according  to  the  Prayer  Book — with  the  omission  of  certain  parts — and  read- 
ing sermons  prepared  by  approved  ministers.  But  in  vacant  parishes  it  is  not 
regarded  as  an  undue  extension  of  their  ofifice  to  deliver  addresses  or  ex- 
hortations of  their  own. 

The  bishop  has  jurisdiction  over  the  clergy.  Candidates  for  ordination 
must  be  recommended  by  a  majority  of  the  vestry  of  the  parish  in  which  they 
hold  their  membership,  to  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  diocese,  and  by  the 
Standing  Committee  to  the  bishop ;  and  the  bishop,  after  having  subjected 
them  to  certain  prescribed  examinations,  may  ordain  them  to  the  ministry. 
With  the  bishop  himself,  however,  rests  the  final  decision  of  the  case:  he 
cannot  be  compelled  to  ordain. 

The  clergy  are  amenable  for  both  personal  and  official  conduct  to  the 
bishop,  whose  duty  it  is  to  take  continual  oversight  of  them,  to  give  good 
counsel,  and  to  require  the  discontinuance  of  wrong  practices,  as  need  may 
be.  At  the  trial  of  a  minister,  the  bishop  presiding  has  the  right  to  modify 
an  adverse  verdict  of  the  court. 

Bishops  are  elected  to  their  office  by  the  Diocesan  Convention,  approved 
by  the  General  Convention  (or  in  the  interval  of  the  General  Convention  by 
the  bishops  and  the  Standing  Committees  of  all  the  dioceses),  and  conse- 
crated by  not  fewer  than  three  bishops.  A  missionary  bishop,  however,  is 
nominated  by  the  House  of  Bishops  and  elected  by  the  House  of  Deputies. 

In  every  diocese  a  Standing  Committee  (in  one  or  two  dioceses  composed 
of  presbyters  only,  in  all  the  other  dioceses  of  presbyters  and  laymen)  is 
appointed  annually  by  the  Diocesan  Convention,  as  an  advisory  council  to 
the  bishop.  Its  advice  may  be  proffered  without  impropriety,  whether  asked 
for  or  not;  and  in  case  of  the  diocese  being  temporarily  deprived  of  the 
services  of  a  bishop,  because  of  absence,  impaired  health,  or  other  cause,  the 
Standing  Committee  exercises  the  administrative  authority. 

Each  parish  has  a  board  of  officers,  the  vestry,  elected  by  the  people  (in 
some  parishes  by  communicants  only,  in  others  by  communicants  and  con- 
tributors jointly),  and  charged  with  the  administration  of  its  temporal  af- 
fairs.   They  themselves  need  not  be  members  of  the  church. 

The  executive  officers  of  the  vestry  are  called  wardens. 

A  minister  is  elected  to  the  pastorship  of  a  church  by  the  vestry.  Notice 
of  his  election  must  be  delivered  to  the  bishop,  who,  if  he  see  no  imperative 
reason  to  the  contrary,  will  proceed  to  have  him  "instituted"  as  pastor.    Here 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         429 

again  the  final  decision  rests  witli  the  bisliop,  who  may  inhibit  the  institution 
of  the  pastor  elect.  But  such  episcopal  interference  with  the  will  of  the  ves- 
try is  not  in  accord  with  the  temper  and  customs  of  the  Church. 

At  Iea.st  once  in  three  years  an  episcopal  visitation  must  be  made  to  each 
church  of  the  diocese,  "for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  state  of  the  church, 
inspecting  the  behavior  of  the  clergy,"  and  administering  the  rite  of  con- 
tirmation.  Here  again  episcopal  authority  is  supreme :  the  bishop  may  by 
administering  the  rite  of  confirmation  receive  the  candidate  into  full  member- 
ship in  the  Church,  or  may  decline  to  do  so. 

There  is  held  an  annual  Diocesan  Convention,  of  which  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  is  the  presiding  officer,  composed  of  the  duly  qualified  ministers  of 
the  diocese,  and  lay  delegates  (one  or  more,  according  to  the  rule  adopted 
by  the  particular  diocese)  from  each  parish,  whose  duty  it  is  to  regulate  and 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  Church  within  its  bounds,  under  the  authority 
of  the  bishop  and  the  General  Convention.  In  some  dioceses  delegates  are 
elected  by  the  vestry ;  in  others,  by  the  congregation.  In  many  instances  the 
lay  members  are  in  excess  of  the  clerical  members;  but  the  vote  on  any 
question  may  be  taken  by  orders,  if  even  a  very  few  desire  it,  and  thus  the 
undue  influence  of  the  laity  upon  legislation  is  guarded  against. 

The  legislative  body  of  the  Church  is  the  General  Convention.  It  consists 
of  an  Upper  and  a  Lower  House — namely,  the  House  of  Bishops  and  the 
House  of  Deputies.  The  House  of  Deputies  is  made  up  of  clerical  and  lay 
members — four  clergymen  and  four  laymen  from  each  diocese — elected  by 
the  Diocesan  Conventions.  The  House  of  Bishops  sits  with  closed  doors. 
The  concurrence  of  both  houses  is  necessary  to  the  passage  of  any  measure. 
The  Convention  meets  triennially. 

Some  new  features  of  polity,  hardly  as  yet  firmly  established,  are  the  arch- 
diaconate  (for  the  development  and  oversight  of  home  missions),  the  cathe- 
dral, and  the  provincial  organization  of  dioceses.  These  three  institutions 
are  modeled  after  corresponding  institutions  of  the  English  E.stablishment.' 

8.  Institutionalism  in  These  Two  Churche.s. 

B'otli  in  England  and  in  xAmerica  the  Episcopal  Church  em- 
bodies very  conspicuously  in  its  structure  and  administration  the 
idea  of  institutionalism.  Relatively  it  makes  but  little  use  of  the 
subjective  element  in  religion.  For  in  that  direction — so  it  uni- 
formly declares — are  found  morbid  introspection,  spiritual  self- 
conceit,  despondency,  unregulated  enthusiasm.  True,  the  soul 
must  be  brought  face  to  face  with  its  Maker,  in  Him  who  died 
for  its  redemption.  But  the  means  by  which  this  end  may  be 
attained  is  the  continual  operation  of  religious  rites  and  observ- 

^"Constitution  and  Canons  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  1789-1907." 


43^  Christianity  as  Organised 

ances.  Only  through  the  visible  may  we  reach  the  unseen.  The 
spirit  must  be  clotlied  with  a  fitting  and  beautiful  Ijody.  Hence 
the  Church  is  perpetually  proclaimed.  There  is  much  of  the  out- 
ward in  congregational  worship.  Elaborate,  ornate,  artistic,  spec- 
tacular, it  appeals  strongly  to  the  senses.  The  minister  is  a  priest ; 
the  ministry,  a  hierarchy.  Many  "holy  days"  are  observed.  The 
sacraments,  clothed  with  a  mystic  and  undefined  virtue,  are  made 
very  prominent. 

Nor  can  there  be  a  moment's  doubt  of  the  value  of  institutional 
observances  in  religion.  But  on  the  other  hand,  as  in  literature 
too  many  words,  and  all  the  more  if  they  be  attractive  words, 
obscures  the  sense,  and  as  in  music  too  great  display  of  voice  is 
fatal  to  the  sentiment  of  the  song,  so  does  undue  religious  cere- 
monial keep  back  the  worshiper's  mind  from  the  supersensuous 
reality.     It  tends  to  stupefy  rather  than  to  cjuicken  or  to  calm. 

Neither,  on  the  other  hand,  can  there  be  a  reasonable  doubt 
that  religion  may  become  relatively  too  subjective,  and  thus  in- 
cur the  risk  of  morbid  excesses.  But  the  more  common  and 
powerful  drift  is  in  the  opposite  direction.  Quietism  is  possible 
: — and  rare ;  but  ever-present  is  the  peril  of  externalism.^ 

Far  more  serious  than  the  mere  multiplication  of  forms  is  the 
case  of  religious  rites  taken  and  practiced  as  embodying  anti- 
Christian  ideas.  Such,  unless  sacerdotalism  be  indeed  the  reli- 
gion of  the  New  Testament,  are  the  ritualistic,  or  sacramenta- 
rian,  rites.  The  ritualistic  congregation  cherishes  much  medieval 
symbolism,  revives  many  medieval  practices,  and,  as  in  Roman- 
ism, centers  the  whole  ministration  of  the  Church  about  an  altar 
on  which  is  consecrated  a  sacrifice  to  be  partaken  of  by  the  com- 

'The  drift  in  this  direction  may  be  seen  in  such  recorded  facts  as  the  fol- 
lowing: "When  Chase  reached  the  new  land  of  Ohio,  in  1817,  it  seemed  nat- 
ural for  him  to  begin  his  work  at  'Covenant  Creek'  by  calling  together  his 
neighbors  for  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  the  Prayers.  When  Breck  and 
his  companions  laid  down  their  packs  under  an  elm  tree  in  Minnesota,  in 
1850,  it  seemed  equally  natural  and  fitting  to  them  to  'erect  a  rustic  cross, 
build  a  rude  altar  of  rough  stones,  and  begin  their  work  by  the  celebration 
of  the  Eucharistic  Feast.'"  (McConnell,  "Hist,  of  American  Episcopal 
Church,"  p.  323.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional        431 

municants,   as  the  chief   divinely   appointed   channel   of   saving 
grace. 

The  consecrated  bread  and  wine,  it  is  taught,  are  the  "vessel" 
or  "veil"  or  "garment"  of  tlie  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
which  is  the  sacrifice  offered.  Any  man  wlio  undertakes  to  offer 
this  sacrifice  without  a  commission  from  a  bishop  of  "apostolical 
descent"  is  a  follower  of  Korah,  Datlian,  and  Abiram,  and  ex- 
posed to  a  corresponding  punishment.  Baptism — which  may  be 
given  even  by  laymen,  in  exceptional  cases — conveys  to  the  soul 
justification  and  the  new  birth.'  As  to  non-episcopal  Christian 
communions,  they  "have  cut  themselves  off  from  the  participa- 
tion of  the  one  Spirit  as  living  in  the  Church  and  flowing  through 
the  sacraments,  which  are  veins  and  arteries  of  the  one  body."' 

9.   Isolation  of  These  Two  Churches. 

The  Anglican  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches  are  not  in 
fraternal  relations  with  any  other.  Refused  recognition  by  the 
Greek  and  Roman  communions  with  which  they  would  fain  fra- 
ternize, they  themselves  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  Protestant 
Churches  by  which  they  are  surrounded  as  in  the  unity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  "From  that  moment"  (when  the  renewed 
Act  of  Uniformity  was  passed,  1662),  says  Green  the  historian, 
the  Church  of  England  stood  "isolated  and  alone  among  the 
churches  of  the  world."' 

'"It  [baptisml  is  the  passage  out  of  a  state  of  wrath  into  a  state  of  grace, 
and  carries  with  it  forgiveness  of  sins,  purchased  for  us  by  the  Blood  of 
Christ,  and  all  other  blessings  of  the  Christian  covenant."  (Goulbourn,  "The 
Holy  Catholic  Church,"  p.  136.) 

^"It  is  not  a  question  whether  we  can  give  up  all  symbolism  in  religion ; 
the  only  question  is,  how  the  Church  can  use  religious  symbolism  without 
abusing  it.  The  symbol  is  not  in  itself  an  evil  thing,  whether  it  be  a  light 
before  an  altar,  a  silver  star  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  or 
a  statue  of  Luther  kissing  the  open  Bible,  or  a  flower  before  a  pulpit.  .  .  . 
It  is  only  when  the  symbol  is  made  an  idol  that  the  truth  is  betrayed."  (New- 
man Smyth,  "Passing  Protestantism  and  Coming  Catholicism,"  pp.  186,  187.) 

'"The  Reformation  had  severed  it  irretrievably  from  those  who  still 
clung  to  the  obedience  of  the  Papacy.  By  its  rejection  of  all  but  Episcopal 
orders  the  Act  of  Uniformity  severed  it  as  irretrievably  from  the  general 
body   of    the    Protestant    Churches    whether    Lutheran    or    Reformed.      And 


432  Christianity  as  Organised 

Attempts  have  been  made  by  English  Churchmen  to  open  the 
way  to  the  recognition  of  their  communion  as  a  true  Church  of 
Christ  by  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church/  But  all  has  thus  far 
been  unavailing.  The  Holy  Orthodox  Catholic  Apostolic  Ori- 
ental Church  has  always  been  ready  with  the  answer  to  any  such 
suggestions,  Unless  you  b.old  the  Orthodox  Faith  (which,  in 
fact,  you  do  not),  it  is  vain  to  ask  our  recognition  or  fellowship. 

A  similar  attempt  was  made  by  prominent  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  less  than  fifteen  years  ago,  to  obtain  from 
the  Pope  an  official  declaration  of  the  validity  of  Anglican  or- 
ders.^ Even  so  great  and  wise  a  statesman  as  William  Ewart 
Gladstone  thought  it  worth  while  to  write  a  letter  containing  an 
able  argument  on  the  subject  to  Cardinal  Rampolla,  and  was 
strangely  sanguine  enough  to  hope  for  a  favorable  result  from 
the  united  undertaking.  But  the  reply  of  Leo  XIII.,  in  the  Bull 
Apostoliccc  Curcc  (September  13,  1896),  was  a  death-blow  to 
all  Such  hopes.  The  Pope  refused  to  recognize  any  ordination 
by  English  bishops — the  main  ground  of  his  decision,  to  state 
it  with  the  utmost  brevity,  being  that  the  Anglican  rite  of  ordi- 


while  thus  cut  off  from  all  hearty  religious  communion  with  the  world  with- 
out it  sank  into  immobility  within."  ("History  of  the  English  People,"  Vol. 
HI.,  p.  363.) 

^For  example,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  a 
hundred  years  later  by  certain  English  Tractarians.  Of  wider  significance 
was  the  Conference  of  Bonn  (1874),  of  which  Dean  Howson  and  Canon 
Liddon  were  members.  The  Conference  was  composed  of  Old  Catholics, 
Anglicans,  Russian  and  Eastern  Orthodox  Christians,  and  American  Epis- 
copalians. Its  object  was  to  secure  inter-communion  for  the  churches  (in- 
formally)    represented.      (See    Schaff,    "Creeds    of    Christendom,"    Vol.    II., 

P-  545) 

""Leo  XIII.  was  approached  by  those  who  claimed  to  speak,  if  not  for 
the  entire  Anglican  body,  at  least  for  a  numerous  section  of  its  members. 
They  assured  him  that  there  was  a  widespread  opinion  among  you  that  our 
practice  of  reordaining  convert  clergymen  was  an  imputation  on  your  Church 
which  had  not  originated  in  any  due  inquiry,  but  rested  on  historical  assump- 
tions which  could  no  longer  be  sustained.  They  told  him  they  felt  strongly 
on  the  matter,  in  the  belief  that  you  were  being  treated  with  a  manifest  dis- 
regard for  truth  and  justice;  and  they  urged  that  the  effect  was  to  nourish 
prejudices  against  the  Holy  See  most  injurious  to  the  cause  of  Christian  re- 
union."    ("Vindication  of  the  Bull  Apostolicae  Curae,"  p.  5.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Prelatic,  Successional         433 

nation  to  the  priesthood  does  not  "intend"  to  confer,  and  hence 
cannot  possibly  confer,  the  power  to  offer  sacrifice.  All,  there- 
fore, was  null  and  void.  The  x\nglican  body's  sacraments  were 
no  sacraments,  their  ministry  no  ministry,  they  themselves  no 
Church  of  Christ.' 

On  the  other  hand,  these  same  two  Episcopal  churches  of  En- 
gland and  America  have,  through  their  Bishops'  Chicago-Lam- 
beth Declaration,  proposed  fraternity  and  even  organic  union 
with  other  Protestant  churches.^  The  Christian  spirit  in  which 
it  was  done  evoked,  as  was  meet,  a  sympathetic  response.  But 
the  proposal  requires,  as  one  of  tlie  four  conditions,  that  only 
their  own  ordination  to  the  Christian  ministry  shall  be  regarded 
as  valid."     It  could  not  reasonably  have  hoped  to  be  accepted. 

Here,  then,  in  this  offer  of  a  7'ia  media,  appears  the  unwilling 
maintenance  of  a  somewhat  singular  ecclesiastic  isolation.'     May 

^The  Archbishops  of  Canterbviry  and  York  replied  to  the  Papal  Bull— re- 
ferring to  the  Church  of  Rome  as  a  "sister  Church  of  Christ."  The  Roman 
Archbishop  and  Bishops  in  England  wrote  in  vindication  of  the  Bull — re- 
ferring to  the  Church  of  England  as  "your  communion,"  "the  Anglican 
body,"  or  one  of  "the  separated  communities." 

"The  Articles  of  Unity  were  adopted  by  the  House  of  Bishops  in  Chicago, 
t886;  in  London,  at  Lambeth  Palace,  with  slight  modifications,  1888;  by  the 
Episcopal  General  Convention,   i8q2. 

*This  condition,  or  Fourth  Article  of  Lenity,  is  phrased  as  follows:  "The 
acceptance  of  the  historic  episcopate  locally  adapted  in  the  methods  of  its 
administration  to  the  varying  needs  of  the  nations  and  peoples  called  of 
God  into  the  unity  of  his  Church." 

"To  approach  the  great  Protestant  churches  of  the  world  with  the  state- 
ment that  their  ministries  are  unlawful  is  to  propose  not  reunion,  but  ab- 
solution; not  consideration,  but  contempt."  (Bishop  W.  C.  Doane,  as  re- 
ported in  a  recent  address  to  the  Diocesan  Convention  of  Albany,  N.  Y.) 

*It  is  a  most  encouraging  sign  that  Churchmen,  no  matter  who  they  are, 
should  get  together  to  try  to  do  away  with  the  isolation  of  the  Anglican 
communion.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  men  to  recognize  that  that  isolation  is 
not  natural  and  is  not  final  in  any  direction,  whether  it  be  considered  from 
the  point  of  the  compass  where  Protestantism  lies  or  the  opposed  point  of 
the  compass  where  Romanism  is  found."  (The  Churchman,  February  22, 
1908.) 

"The  scope  and  destiny  of  the  Anglican  Communion  are  here  at  stake. 
As   a   minority  among  English-speaking  Christians   it  may   indeed   maintain 


434  Christianity  as  Organised 

we  determine  its  true  significance?  Is  it  that  of  simple  fidelity 
at  all  hazards  to  a  divine  trust  of  ministerial  orders,  containing 
a  ''great  deposit"  of  sacramental  grace,  or  is  it  that  of  a  pathetic 
misconception  of  the  mind  of  the  ]\Iaster  as  to  the  vocation  of 
his  ministers  and  the  intercommunion  of  his  churches? 

a  glorious  tradition  and  preserve  an  influential  type  of  spiritual  life  and  ac- 
tivity; but  its  full  natural  growth  and  the  proper  exercise  of  its  ideal  func- 
tion are  not  possible  without  the  recovery  of  those  who  have  been  alienated 
from  it  in  the  past."  (Dean  Armitage  Robinson,  "The  Vision  of  Unitv," 
p.  61.) 


IV. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  IDEA:  PATRIARCHAL,  IMPERIAL, 

PAPAL. 

The  mereh'  prelatic  theory  of  church  government  is  really  a 
theory  of  diocesan  government,  and  nothing  more.  P'or  the 
common  oversight  of  two  or  more  dioceses,  it  can  consistently 
make  no  provision.  Because,  according  to  this  theory,  the  whole 
governing  power  inheres  in  the  individual  bishop,  each  one  act- 
ing alone  as  a  monarch  in  his  own  district.  What  then  shall  be 
the  relations  of  the  various  bishops  to  one  another?  Over  which 
district  shall  each  be  ruler?  Some  man  or  some  body  of  men 
must  decide.  Or,  supposing  th.at  there  should  be  agreement  as 
to  territorial  jurisdiction,  each  several  appointee  taking  posses- 
sion of  his  particular  diocese — how  shall  all  the  dioceses  collect- 
ively, constituting  the  Church  as  a  whole,  be  ruled?  Where  is 
the  supreme  authority?' 

In  some  Episcopal  churches — the  English  and  the  Russian,  for 
example — the  State  is  this  supreme  authority.  But  it  will  hard- 
ly be  maintained  that  the  rule  of  the  State  over  the  Church  is 
also  an  original  institute  of  Christ.     Indeed,  how  the  bishops  can 

'Dr.  William  Jones  Seabnry's  solution  of  the  difficulty  is  as  follows:  "It 
is  true  that  Christ's  commission  imposes  an  obligation  upon  the  bishops  to 
act  in  common,  but,  inasmuch  as  the  nature  of  their  authority  is  such  .is 
to  presuppose  the  power  of  individual  action  in  direct  responsibility  to 
Christ  alone,  the  common  action  can  only  be  by  consent  and  voluntary  agree- 
ment, which  is  federation.  Every  individual  bishop  holding  an  entire  share 
of  the  power  of  his  order  is  able  to  exercise  it  independently  of  all  others 
similarly  commissioned ;  and  if  he  waive  this  ability  in  deference  to  Christ," 
and  so  on.  ("Introduction  to  Church  Polity,"  pp.  150,  151.)  I  cannot 
reconcile  the  ideas  in  either  of  these  two  sentences.  If  "Christ's  commis- 
sion imposes  an  obligation  upon  the  bishops  to  act  in  common,"  how  can  this 
common  action  "only  be  by  consent  and  voluntary  agreement?"  Or,  to  take 
up  the  same  idea  as  differently  expressed  in  the  next  sentence :  It  either  is 
or  is  not  the  will  of  Christ  that  the  bishop  should  exercise  his  power  inde- 
pendently; if  it  is,  then  he  cannot  rightfully  subordinate  the  exercise  of  this 
power  to  the  decision  of  others;  if  it  is  not,  then  he  is  not  rightfully  "able 
to  exercise  it  independently." 

(435) 


43^  Christianity  as  Organised 

consent  to  it  without  unfaithfulness,  under  the  successional  and 
prelatic  theory  of  the  Church's  constitution,  is  a  standing  mar- 
vel. If  they  believe  themselves  to  have  been  ordained  by  Christ 
as  the  supreme  lawmakers  and  rulers  of  the  Church,  so  that  they 
dare  not  acknowledge  either  presbyters  or  people  as  such,  how 
dare  they  acknowledge  a  civil  ruler  as  the  Church's  head  and  a 
civil  legislature  as  its  lawmaking  body?  AMience  comes  the  lib- 
erty to  surrender  to  an  outside  authority  at  once  their  own  di- 
vinely constituted  power  of  governnient  and  the  very  autonomy 
of  the  Church  itself?'  Better  die  than  betra}-  such  a  trust — than 
be  guilty  of  ''treason  to  their  great  Head.'" 

There  are  more  obvious  and  less  objectionable  arrangements, 
however,  that  might  be  made.  Let  the  bishops  elect  one  of  their 
own  number  an  archbishop,  and  obey  him.  Or  let  them  meet 
together  in  council,  either,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  with  the  cooperation  of  laymen,  or  without  it, 
and  decide  all  questions  according  to  tlie  will  of  the  majority. 
But  these,  again,  are  simply  expedient  policies ;  neither  of  them 
is  any  part  of  the  supposed  original  investiture  of  governing 
power  received  by  each  individual  bishop  from  ^Christ  tlairougli' 
the  "first  Apostles."  ^'r    i;,:-^:    • -rr  ■' 

\yho  then,  we  may  repeat,  shall  govern  the  diocesans  them- 
selves, and  through  them  the  whole  Church,  of  which  the  various 
dioceses  are  only  the  territorial  divisions? 

I.  Development  of  the  Patriarchal  Idea. 
The  answer  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  to  this  question 
is  only  another  expedient  arrangement.    Above  the  diocesan  bish- 

*"The  principle  of  the  apostolic  succession  involves  the  truth  that  the 
bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  clothed  with  a  spiritual  authority  and  a 
responsibility  which  they  cannot  alienate  from  themselves,  or  commit  to  the 
secular  government,  without  treason  to  their  great  Head.     .     .     . 

"If  this  then  be  the  case,  the  English  Church  has  to  learn  as  well  as  to 
teach — to  recover  a  principle  as  well  as  maintain  it.  For  it  admits  of  no  ques- 
tion that,  -for  instance,  the  established  Church  of  Scotland,  though  it  is, 
Presbyterian,  has  maintained  more- successfully  than  the  Church  of  England 
with  her  catholic  succession  the  spiritual  independence  of  Christ's  society." 
(Gore,  "Church  and  Ministry"  (4th  ed.),  pp.  318,  319.)  , 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    437 

ops  let  there  be  metropolitans:  above  the  metropolitans,  patri- 
archs :  and  supreme  o\er  all,  the  Ecumenical  Council.  Let  the 
patriarchs,  under  the  authority  of  the  Ecumenical  Council,  each 
stand  at  the  head  of  his  own  territory ;  but  let  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  hold  a  primacy  of  honor  o\  er  his  confreres.  For 
was  not  the  "primacy  of  honor  after  the  city  of  Rome"  given  to 
him  by  decree  of  the  First  Council  of  Constantinople  (in  381}  ? 
And  now  that  Rome  has  not  only  Ijecome  unbearable  througli 
lust  of  ecclesiastical  power,  but  has  fallen  away  from  the  Ortho- 
dox faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  Christians,  let  Constanti- 
nople be  recognized  as  chief  of  the  three  remaining  patriarchates 
— Alexandria,  Antioch,  Jerusalem:  and  so  let  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  be,  in  this  sense,  and  let  him  therefore  be  called. 
Ecumenical  Patriarch. 

It  may  be  added,  that  when  the  churches  represented  by  the 
sees  of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem  were  crushed  into 
pitiful  feebleness  by  the  conquests  of  Islam,  and  when,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  patriarchate  of  Constantinople  was  vastly  ex- 
tended— especially  by  the  conversion  of  Russia — the  claim  of  the 
bishop  of  Constantinople  to  the  title  of  Ecumenical  Patriarch 
appeared  still  stronger  and  more  fitting. 

The  rule  of  the  patriarchs,  however,  in  certain  very  impor- 
tant instances,  has  been  more  nominal  than  real.  For  the  dif- 
ferent national  churches  are  left  practically  to  govern  them- 
selves— or  rather  to  he  governed  hy  the  State.^  The  tie  that 
binds  them  together  under  the  patriarchal  superintendence  is 
orthodoxy — the  accepted  standard  being  the  creeds  of  the  seven 
Ecumenical  Councils — rather  than  episcopal  authority.  Not 
only  was  the  Russian  Church,  for  instance,  as  we  shall  see  later, 
permitted  to  have  its  own  patriarch,  and  afterwards  to  abolish 
the  patriarchate,  and  set  up  a  government  with  the  Czar  and  the 
Holy  Governing  Synod  at  its  head;  but  since  then  similar  nation- 
al autonomies  have  been  established  in  Greece,  Roumania,  Mon- 
tenegro,  Servia,   and   Bulgaria — in  all  the  orthodox  European 

^Fairbairn,  "Catholicism,  Roman  and  Anglican,"  pp.   i8i,  182. 


43^  Christianity  as  Organized 

states/  In  fact,  the  Czar  of  Russia  has  more  of  the  character  of 
chief  personal  ruler  in  the  Church  of  the  East  than  has  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople/ 

But  how  about  the  Ecumenical  Council  ?  That,  when  con- 
vened, must  wield  supreme  authority.  But  its  meetings  would 
seem  to  be  little  more  than  a  rather  remote  possibility;  for  ac- 
cording to  Orthodox  reckoning,  none  has  been  held  for  more 
than  eleven  hundred  years.  The  Second  Council  of  Nice  (787) 
is  counted  as  the  Seventh  and  last.  It  might  ha\'e  seemed  pos- 
sible that  at  some  time  after  the  separation  from  Rome  in  1054 
the  Eastern  Church  would  convene  a  general  council  to  settle  its 
difficulties  (of  which  it  has  had  a  full  share),  or  to  restate  its 
faith,  or  to  define  its  relations  to  other  Christian  communions. 
But  while  this  has  been  talked  of  in  recent  years  and  a  hope  of 
it  cherished,  thus  far  nothing  of  the  sort  has  been  done. 

Is  it  because  of  an  uneasy  feeling  that  since  the  vast  Patri- 
archate of  the  West,  representing  many  more  adherents  than  all 
the  other  four  put  together,  has  gone  off  in  heresy  and  schism, 
a  properly  ecumenical  council  cannot  be  held?  or  is  it  a  case  of 
obsession  by  the  idea  that  the  Nicaean  Council  of  the  eighth 
century,  whose  chief  significance  is  the  sanctioning  of  image- 
worship,  would  somehow  have  been  justified  in  announcing,  ''The 
Seven  Synods  are  the  people,  and  behold,  wisdom  will  die  with 
them?"  or  shall  it  be  set  down  to  Eastern  Orthodoxy's  inertness 
and   "arrested  development  ?"  or  is   it   rather  through   fear  of 


'There  may  be  counted,  indeed,  no  fewer  han  sixteen  separate  and  inde- 
pendent ecclesiastical  bodies  that,  b\'  confession  of  the  same  system  of  doc- 
trines and  acknowledgment  of  the  primacy  of  the  Ecumenical  Patriarch, 
constitute  the  Orthodox  Church  of  the  East.  These  churches  are  of  all  de- 
grees of  territorial  and  numerical  strength,  from  Russia,  with  her  multiplied 
millions  of  communicants,  to  Sinai,  whose  patriarch  rules  over  only  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Katherine  on  Mt.  Sinai  with  its  fourteen  daughter  houses. 

-"The  Czar  is  the  personal,  as  Constantinople  is  the  local,  center  of  the 
whole  Greek  Church ;  and  he  keeps  a  lustful  eye  upon  the  city  of  the 
Bosphorus  as  his  future  capital,  where,  at  no  distant  day,  there  must  be  a 
tremendous  reckoning  with  Mohammedanism."  (Schaff-Herzog  Encj'clope- 
dia.  Art.  "Greek  Church.'") 


The  Episcopal  Idea :  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal   439 

some  doctrinal  derangement  from  the  possible  action  of  such  a 
council  ? 

This  Episcopal  Church,  then,  with  the  Bishops  of  Constanti- 
nople. Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem  as  its  chiefs,  and  yet 
with  the  far  greater  part  of  its  membership  outside  th.eir  juris- 
diction, must  be  classed  as  distinctly  less  than  a  rigid  oligarchy. 

As  to  its  supreme  governing  and  teaching  authority,  how- 
ever, it  claims  no  lower  attribute  than  infallibility.  The  assem- 
bled body  of  its  bishops — tnat  is  to  say,  the  possible  ecumenical 
council — can  commit  no  error,  either  doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical. 
Such  a  council  will  be  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  an  infalli- 
ble decision  on  all  matters  of  faith  and  even  of  polity. 

2,  Orthodoxy  the  Predominant  Note  of  the  Eastern 

Church. 

Here  perhaps  may  be  found  the  chief  explanation  of  the  long 
intermittence  of  the  ecumenical  councils.  With  the  adjournment 
of  the  last  of  these  councils  the  creed  of  the  Eastern  Church  was, 
according  to  her  profession,  fixed  unchangeably.  Let  no  oppor- 
tunity or  temptation,  therefore,  be  given  for  any  further  legis- 
lation on  the  subject,  lest  there  be  disturbing  results. 

With  the  Church  of  Rome  it  is  dififerent.  She  adds  to  her 
dogmas.  Under  the  veil  of  "development"  and  "definition,"  she 
mav  tax  the  consciences  of  the  faithful  with  new  articles  of  faith. 
Cardinal  Newman  could  write  an  "Essay  on  the  Development  of 
Christian  Doctrine,"  and  declare  that  "to  grow  is  to  change,  and 
to  he  yieriect  is  to  have  changed  often ;"  but  it  would  probably 
be  impossible  to  find  a  similar  book  or  sentiment  from  the  pen 
of  an  Orthodox  Eastern  theologian.  A  pope  or  an  ecumenical 
council  may  frame  such  a  dogma  as  the  Immaculate  Conception 
or  Papal  Infallibility  in  the  nineteenth  century  or  in  any  other. 
Protestant  churches,  also,  may  and  sometimes  do  revise  their 
-confessions  of  faith.  But  Eastern  Orthodoxy  is  content  to  rest 
stn'ctlv  in  the  faith  of  the  fathers.  Concerning  "the  develop- 
ment   of    Christian    doctrine"    subsequent   to   787   A.D.,    it    has 


440  Christianity  as  Organized 

simply  to  say.  There  is  none.  It  wants  no  "development,"  no 
"definitions,"  no  "revisions."  Not  unnaturally,  therefore,  it 
might  fear  lest  in  the  discussions  and  decisions  of  an  ecumenical 
council  it  should  he  "disturbed  in  its  ancient,  solitary  reign."  It 
loves  the  dim  shelter  of  the  "ivy-mantled  tower." 

Since  the  great  schism  of  1054  Rome  has  made  repeated  ef- 
forts to  win  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  back  into  her  com- 
munion. Three  reunion  councils  have  been  held — namely,  in 
1098,  in  1274,  and  in  1439.  The  last  of  these,  which  was  held 
at  Ferrara-Florence,  seemed  for  a  time  to  have  succeeded.  It 
was  numerously  attended  l)y  bishops  and  other  representatives 
of  the  two  churches — the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople  being  included  in  the  number.  An  agreement 
was  reached  on  even  the  most  troublesome  of  the  points  in  dis- 
pute, the  Filioqnc  of  the  Nicene  Creed  and  the  Primacy  of  the 
Pope.  So  the  restored  unity  of  the  Church  was  decreed  and  pub- 
lished. 

But  this  reunion,  which  lasted  for  the  space  of  thirty-th.ree 
years,  was  official  only.  It  did  not  show  the  signs  of  intellectual 
conviction  and  Christian  love.  The  motive  of  the  East  for  con- 
.senting  to  it  was  to  get  an  army  from  the  West  to  help  defend 
the  city  of  Constantinople  against  the  long-threatened,  and  nov\' 
terribly  threatening,  attack  of  the  Turks.  But  the  West  sent  no 
army  worthy  of  mention;  Constantinople  fell;  the  Christian  Em- 
pire perished.  Then,  after  a  few  years  (in  1472),  the  poor,  su- 
perficial reunion  of  the  Western  and  the  Eastern  Church  that 
had  been  proclaimed  at  Florence  was  formally  repudiated  by  a 
svnod  of  Constantinople. 

Since  that  time  the  prospect  of  reunion  has  been  rendered  still 
more  hopeless  by  the  addition  of  the  two  dogmas  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Conception  and  Papal  Infallibility  to  the  Roman  creed. 
These  dogmas  the  Church  of  the  East  looks  upon  as  out-and-out 
novelties,  unheard-of  in  the  early  Church,  products  of  the  rest- 
less brains  of  creed-tampering  Western  .schismatics.  In  a  word, 
the  whole  attitude  of  the  Orthodox  theologians  and  rulers  to- 
ward  any   suggestion  of  yielding  to  the  claims  or  invitations 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    441 

(thai,  for  example,  of  Pope  Leo  XTTI.  in  1894)'  of  what  they 
call  the  Papic  Church  (v  ^i^KXrjaia  irainKri)  seems  to  be  that  of  un- 
hesitating and  even  scornful  refusal. 

N^or.  as  we  have  seen,  have  the  tentative  approaches  of  the 
English  Ritualists  and  the  Old  Catholics  to  open  a  way  for  inter- 
communion with  the  Church  of  the  Seven  Councils  met  with 
any  real  success.  "We  only  are  Orthodox,  your  heresies  must 
be  renounced,"  is  the  rock  on  which  all  such  efforts  ha\e  thus 
far  gone  to  pieces. 

Claiming,  then,  to  be  the  original  Church  of  Christ,  not  only 
through  the  succession  of  bishops  without  an  autocratic  head  but 
also  and  chiefly  through  the  succession  of  official  orthodox 
teaching — in  brief,  being  both  "Apostolic"  and  "Orthodox" — 
the  Eastern  Church  looks  upon  Rome  as  the  arch-heretic  and 
upon  Protestant  bodies  as  similarly  out  of  the  way.  Moreover, 
through  its  common  creed  and  patriarchal  administration,  it  re- 
joices to  avoid,  on  the  one  hand,  papal  autocracy,  and,  on  the 
other.  Protestant  disorder.  With  true  Aristotelian  wisdom  the 
"Greek"  Church  would  keep  this  golden  mean — steadily  pro- 
claiming itself  meanwhile  the  one  true  Christian  Ecclesia,  "the 
one  and  only  heir  of  Christ  and  the  only  ark  of  salvation  left  to 
men  by  God's  grace." 

The  Ecumenical  Patriarch  is  elected  by  the  bishops  of  his  patriarchate, 
in  cooperation  with  a  mixed  council  composed  of  bishops  and  laymen.  His 
election  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Sultan.  Indeed,  he  may  be,  and  in  many 
instances  has  been,  deposed  by  the  Sultan.  But  this  has  usually  been  done, 
it  seems,  at  the  request  of  Christians  themselves.  Because  of  the  lamenta- 
ble presence  of  contending  parties  in  the  Church,  depositions  and  reappoint- 
ments have  been  not  infrequent  occurrences.  His  title,  worthy  of  notice  only 
as  an  example  of  Eastern  grandiloquence,  is :  "The  most  holy,  the  most 
divine,  the  most  wise  Lord,  the  Lord  Archbishop  of  Constantinople,  New 
Rome,  and  Ecumenical  Patriarch." 

Bishops  must  be  not  less  than  thirty  years  of  age  and  unmarried.  To 
them  alone  is  given  the  power  of  ordination.     But  to  the  next  lower  order 

'"The  yearning  desire  of  Our  heart  bids  Us  conceive  and  hope  that  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Eastern  Churches,  so  illustrious  in  their  an- 
cient faith  and  glorious  past,  will  return  to  the  fold  they  have  abandoned." 
(Encvclical  Letter  on  "The  Reunion  of  Christendom."   Tune  20.  1894.) 


442  Christianity  as  Organised 

of  ministers,  the  priests,  are  committed  the  other  six  sacraments,  or  "mys- 
teries"— namely,  the  Lord's  Supper,  baptism,  confirmation,  penance,  anoint- 
ing the  sick  (tvxn^i-ov^  prayer-and-oil),  matrimony. 

Priests  may  be  either  married  (but  not  twice  married)  or  unmarried  at 
the  time  of  ordination — though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  ahnost  every  case 
they  are  married.  But  under  no  circumstances  are  they  permitted  to  marry 
afterwards.*  They  are  appointed  to  their  parishes  by  the  bishop.  Quite  un- 
like the  Roman  priests,  they  wear  long  hair  and  full  flowing  beard. 

Note  some  peculiar  features  in  the  administration  of  the  "mysteries,"  as 
compared  with  their  administration  in  the  Roman  Church.  Confession  is 
made  only  to  a  priest  who  has  reached  the  age  of  forty  years,  and,  having 
been  duly  authorized  by  the  bishop,  becomes  thus  a  "ghostly  father" 
{irvEv/j.dTiKOc).  It  is  infrequent  and  lacking  in  specificness.  It  usually  includes 
■only  declarations  of  sinfulness  in  general  or  of  what  are  accourited  the  most 
serious  sins.  What  is  of  more  significance,  penance  is  not  a  satisfaction 
offered  by  the  penitent  for  his  sins,  but  a  help  toward  a  better  life;  and  it  is 
not  prescribed  unless  asked  for.  There  are  no  confessionals :  confessor  and 
penitent  stand  in  full  view  of  the  congregation.  Absolution  is  given  in  an 
optative,  not  a  declarative,  form :  "The  Lord  absolve  thee." 

At  the  Lord's  Supper  the  congregation  fall  down  in  worship  as  the  offi- 
ciating priest  and  his  assistants  enter  the  church  with  the  bread  and  wine 
as  }'et  unconsecrated ;  and  the  consecration  takes  place  out  of  view  of  the 
congregation,  behind  a  curtain  which  is  in  imitation  of  the  veil  before  the 
Holy  of  Holies  in  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Temple.  Both  the  bread  and  the 
wine  are  given  to  the  laity,  who  receive  it  standing,  and  from  a  gold  or  gilt 
spoon  in  which  both  elements  are  contained — leavened  bread  soaked  in  wine; 
and  in  the  number  of  communicants  even  baptized  infants  are  included.  It 
is  usual  for  these  to  intermit  the  taking  of  the  communion  at  three  or  four 
years  of  age,  and  to  resume  it  when  they  begin  the  pr-actice  of  confession, 
at  about  the  age  of  seven.  The  change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  is  believed  to  take  place  not,  as  the  Roman  Church 
teaches,  when  the  Lord's  words  of  institution  are  recited  by  the  priest,  but 
a  little  later  in  the  ceremony  when  a  special  prayer  ('E7r/K/*?/ff/c)  for  this 
miraculous  change  is  offered. 

Communion  is  given  to  the  people  four  times  a  year — the  appointed  da..s 
being  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsunday,  and  "the  Falling  Asleep  of  the 
Mother   of    God"    (August    15).      Also,    at    these    times    particularly    people 

^This  law,  like  most  features  of  the  Eastern  Church,  is  in  accordance  with 
a  rule  of  the  early  Church — in  this  case  a  rule  which  not  only  forbade  the 
marriage  of  priests  but  also  the  ordination  of  men  who  had  already  been 
twice  married.  "We  have  already  said  that  a  bishop,  a  priest,  and  a  deacon, 
when  they  are  constituted,  must  be  but  once  married,  whether  their  wives 
are  alive  or  whether  they  be  dead,  and  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  them,  if  they 
are  unmarried  when  they  are  ordained,  to  be  married  afterwards."  (Cor.-t. 
Apost,  vi.  17.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea :  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal   443 

are  expected  to  make  confession;  and  penance,  if  asked  for,  is  pre- 
scribed. 

Baptism  is  by  dipping  three  times  in  water.  Contirmation  is  administered 
not  by  the  bishop  but  by  the  priest,  and  even  in  the  case  of  infants  it  is 
given  at  the  time  of  baptism.  The  ceremony  consists  not  in  the  laying  on 
of  hands  but  in  anointing  with  an  oil  which  the  bishop  only  is  permitted  to 
consecrate — so  that  the  bishop  too  has  some  part  in  this  rite.' 

The  anointing  of  the  sick  with  oil  may  be  administered  repeatedly;  for  its 
motive  is  their  recovery  to  health  rather  than,  as  in  the  extreme  unction 
of  the  Roman  Church,  their  preparation  for  death.  Preferably  it  is  per- 
formed not  by  a  single  priest,  but  by  several — seven  being  regarded  as  the 
perfect  number. 

Ordained  monks,  as  in  the  Roman  Church,  are  the  regular  (living-up-to- 
rule)  clergy,  in  contradiction  to  the  '"secular"  clergy.  The  peculiar  honor 
that  is  put  upon  them — namely,  that  only  out  of  their  ranks  may  bishops  be 
chosen — is  not  in  compliance  with  any  written  law,  but  in  accordance  with 
a  primitive  custom  that  has  the  force  of  law. 

The  minor  orders  of  church  officers — below  the  onlcr  of  deacon — are 
strangely  numerous.  They  are  divided  into  groups,  and  these  into  classes. 
Such  officers  as  the  keeper  of  archives,  the  bearer  of  images,  the  ritiger  of 
bells,  and  the  cleaner  of  lamps,  are  included  among  them.  This  excessive 
multiplication  of  officials  is  akin  to  the  excessive  ceremonialism  and  rude 
splendor  of  the  Orthodox  ritual.' 

The  use  of  no  instrument  of  music,  not  even  an  org'an,  is  per- 
mitted in  the  churches.  For  was  not  tlie  primitive  Christian 
custom  that  of  singing  only?  Choirs  are  composed  of  men  and 
boys  exckisively;  and  it  is  the  custom  to  train  them  very  care- 
fullv  for  their  ofifice.  The  Eastern  chant  has  been  described  as 
"the  most  wonderful  display  of  accurate  ear  and  skill  in  the 
world."  But  to  a  stranger  it  is  likely  to  prove  unattractive  or 
e^'en  pain.ful. 

\\'hile  pictures,  mosaics,  and  bas-relief  sculpture  are  freely 
used  in  worship,  the  use  of  statuary  and  high-relief  sculpture  is 
prohibited.  Nor  is  the  distinction  wholly  an  arbitrary  one.  It 
apparently  rests  upon  two  grounds :   ( i )   that  the  ancient  idols 

^An  instance  of  the  utter  overdoing  of  ritual  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  no 
fewer  than  forty  ingredients  enter  into  the  composition  of  this  "chrism."  or 
anointing  oil. 

^"The  Longer  Catechism  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church ;"  "The  Holy 
Catechism"  of  Nicolas  Bulgaris;  Fortescue,  "The  Orthodox  Eastern 
Church." 


444  Christianity  as  Organised 

of  Greece  were  statues,  not  pictures;  (2)  that  images  are  forbid- 
den— in  the  Second  Commandment,  for  example — because  of 
the  danger  of  the  worshiper's  identifying-  or  confusing  the  image 
with  the  being  represented  l)y  it.  which,  it  is  supposed,  is  not 
likely  to  take  place  except  in  the  case  of  the  statue  or  the  higli- 
relief  image.  Not,  howe\'er.  that  such  a  supposition  is  we.ll 
founded;  for  the  facts  are  against  it.  The  icons  of  the  orthodox 
Russian,  for  instance,  receive  as  idolatrous  a  ^-eneration  as  the 
statues  of  the  Roman  Catholic. 

The  Eastern  Church,  unlike  the  Roman,  has  no  universal  lan- 
guage for  its  liturgical  services.  Tt  might  indeed  make  out  a 
better  case  for  the  universal  and  perpetual  use  of  its  original 
Greek,  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  and  of  the  earliest 
Qiristian  fathers,  than  Rome  is  able  to  prove  for  its  ecclesiastic 
Latin.  But  both  the  national  and  the  popular  spirit  have  for- 
bidden. Each  people  must  be  permitted  to  worship  in  its  own 
native  tongue. 

Public  worship  takes  the  form  of  a  long  and  showy  cere- 
monial. Distinctly  scenic  in  character,  it  is  adapted  to  delight 
or  to  weary  the  senses,  not  to  minister  grace  and  knowledge  to 
the  worshiper.  Of  preaching  there  is  little  or  none.  And  the 
effect  of  their  religion  upon  the  moral  life  ^nd  conduct  of  the 
people  seems  to  be  painfully  small.' 

3.  The  Imperial  Idea  in  the  Russo-Greek  Church, 

Where  shall  we  look  for  an  embodiment  of  the  idea  of  the 
civil  governor  as  at  the  same  time  the  supreme  governor  of  the 
Church  in  his  dominions — the  idea  of  Imperial  Episcopacy?  It 
appears,  however  inconsistently  with  the  divine  right  claimed  by 
High  Churchmen  for  the  bishops,  as  well  as  with  the  evangelical 

'"They  have  even  a  more  complicated  s\'stem  of  ceremonies  [than  the 
Roman  Catholics],  with  gorgeous  display,  semi-barbaric  pomp,  and  endless 
changes  of  sacerdotal  dress,  crossings,  gestures,  genuflections,  prostrations, 
washings,  processions,  which  so  absorb  the  attention  of  the  senses  that  there 
is  little  room  left  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  worship."  (Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopedia.  Art.   "Greek  Church.") 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    445 

conception  of  Christianity,  in  the  King's  headship  of  the  Church 
of  England.  But  it  may  be  seen  in  a  more  distinct  and  powerful 
form  in  anotlier  state-cliurch.  which  will  now  for  a  little  while 
engage  our  attention. 

Immobile,  superstitious,  politically  entangled,  humiliated  by 
the  sword  and  scepter  of  the  Infidel,  the  Church  of  the  East, 
since  the  early  centuries,  has  taken  but  an  insignificant  part  in 
the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  And  its  part 
would  have  been  still  less  but  for  the  conversion  of  a  people, 
scattered,  it  is  true,  through  grim  forests  and  over  dreary,  mo- 
notonous plains,  but  extending  their  boundaries  east  and  west, 
and  destined  to  become  one  of  the  mightiest  of  world  powers. 
Russia  was  Christianized  from  Constantinople ;  nor  has  it  fal- 
tered for  one  moment  in  its  devotion  to  the  form  of .  Ciin§tiajiity 
thus  received.  ,.,  r,  ;-     \  ..-  m,-. '•''; 

Of  the  hundred  million  members  of  the  Eastern  Church  to- 
day, three-fourths  or  more  live  under  the  government  of  the 
Czar.  It  is  the  Slav,  not  the  Greek,  by  whom  the  ancient  Greek 
orthodoxy  is  now  most  prominenth'  represented. 

Russian  Christianity  dates  from  the  tenth  century.  It  sup- 
planted a  simple  form  of  nature-worship,  in  which  the  sky,  the 
sun,  the  thunder,  the  frost,  the  earth,  were  deified,  and  a  mul- 
titude of  spirits  infested  the  woods,  the  streams,  and  the  homes 
of  the  people.  Without  a  temple,  without  a  priesthood,  with 
rude  images  only,  the  worshipers  from  their  miserable  huts  gath- 
ered together,  in  the  forest  or  on  the  hills,  to  seek  the  favor  of 
their  gods.' 

The  story  of  the  overthrow  of  this  ancient  superstition  by 
Eastern  Christianit}^  is  largely  legendary ;°  but  there  seems  no 
doubt  that  it  contains  an  authentic  account  of  a  national  conver- 

^Noble,  "Russia  and  the  Russians,"  pp.  3-5. 

""It  seemed  to  me  useless  to  give  Nestor's  narrative  of  the  Russians'  con- 
version ;  for  a  great  part  of  it,  especially  the  alleged  investigation  by  Vladi- 
mir of  Judaism,  Islamism,  and  Christianity,  Greek  and  Latin,  bears  all  the 
appearance  of  being  a  legend."  d-eroy-Beaulieu,  "Empire  of  the  Tsars," 
Vol.   TTT..  p.   20.  n.) 


44^  Christianity  as  Organised 

sion.  The  Grand  Prince  Vladimir — whose  grandmother,  Olga, 
and  whose  wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  the  Eastern  Emperor  Basil, 
were  Christians — made  profession  of  the  Christian  faith.  Then 
at  his  word  the  idols  of  the  land  were  burned,  or  hewn  in  pieces, 
or  cast  into  the  Dnieper,  and  at  Kiev  in  the  same  river  the  people 
were  baptized.  There  is  no  record  of  any  serious  opposition  to 
the  royal  commands.  As  the  work  of  conversion  advanced  north- 
ward, however,  it  did  encounter  opposition,  and  was  carried  on 
by  force.  But  the  Russ,  though  a  hard  fighter  in  battle  and  not 
destitute  of  individuality,  was  of  docile  temperament,  then  as 
now  reverent  and  submissive  to  authority.  Moreover,  his  bar- 
baric tastes  were  well  pleased  with  the  ceremonial  of  the  Church ; 
and  what  was  of  greater  iniportance,  he  was  notably  of  a  re- 
ligious spirit.  So  his  ecclesiastical  conversion  proved  to  be  no 
difificult  task,  and  was  soon  completed. 

As  in  certain  more  familiar  historic  instances,  however,  a  par- 
tial compromise  was  effected  between  the  old  faith  and  the  new. 
Favorite  heathen  gods  continued  to  be  adored,  only  they  were 
somewhat  transformed  by  bearing  the  names  of  Christian  saints. 
And  these  maintain  their  place  in  the  popular  faith  even  in  the 
present  day.'  In  the  higher  classes  there  is  less  of  superstition, 
but  instead  of  more  true  religion,  skepticism  and  indifference. 

The  Church  of  Russia  was  included  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Con- 
stantinople. But  after  the  founding'  of  Moscow  and  the  re- 
moval of  both  the  capital  and  the  metropolitan  see  to  that  new 
northern  city,  the  Russian  Church  became  practically  independ- 

^"Hence,  though  monotheism  is  the  avowed  faith  of  the  Orthodox  Church, 
the  Russian  peasant  continues  to  believe  more  or  less  in  the  original  poly- 
theism of  his  pagan  ancestors.  He  does  not  name  the  various  divinities,  and 
may  not  hold  them  consciously  apart  in  his  mind,  yet  he  finds  their  chief  char- 
acters again  in  the  attributes  which  he  has  been  taught  to  associate  with  the 
principal  saints  of  the  Christian  calendar.  As  seen,  moreover,  in  his  super- 
stitions, in  those  spirit  invocations  and  magical  formulae  which  form  so  con- 
siderable a  part  of  popular  literature,  he  continues  to  believe  in  that  same  spir- 
it world  which  Grand-Prince  Vladimir,  by  a  mere  ceremony  of  baptism,  vain- 
ly supposed  that  he  could  vanish  forever  from  the  Russian  land."  (Noble, 
"Russia  and  the  Russians,"  pp.  175,  176) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    447 

ent.  I-'or  the  Grand-Prince  now  appointed,  on  his  sole  authority 
and  with  the  concurrence  of  a  conference  of  bishops,  a  Metro- 
politan of  Russia.  A  century  later  the  metropolitan  was  made  a 
patriarch,  and  Moscow,  now  declared  to  be  die  Third  Rome,  be- 
came a  patriarchate,  coordinate  with  those  of  Constantinople, 
Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem.  The  Russian  patriarchs, 
however,  at  their  own  request,  were  regularly  confirmed  in  their 
office  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  until,  in  1660,  Russia 
was  formally  authorized  by  the  Eastern  Church  to  elect  its  own 
patriarch  and  dispense  with  his  confirmation  by  Constantinople/ 

4.  Autocratic  Rule  of  the  Czar. 

But  the  real  ecclesiastic  ruler  of  Russia  is  the  Czar.     From 

Ivan  the  Terrible  (1533-1584)  to  Nicholas  II.  (1894 ),  the 

reigning  sovereign  has  wielded  despotic  power  in  Church  as  well 
as  in  State.  The  Church,  indeed,  greatly  helped  to  make  him 
what  he  is.  All  through  the  feudal  period  the  effort  at  the  cen- 
tralization of  power  was  seconded  by  the  ecclesiastics.  It  was 
their  strong  and  persistent  hands,  among  others,  that  crowned 
the  Grand  Prince  Autocrat  of  all  the  Riissias.  And  now,  with- 
out unwillingness  on  their  part,  he  became  their  own  iron-handed 
chief.  The  Orthodox  faith  wrought  alike  for  the  unification  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  State  in  an  absolute  monarchy. 

At  the  Czar's  command  even  the  patriarch  had  to  yield  up  his 
office  long  ago.  Peter  the  Great  (1689-1725)  abolished  the  of- 
fice, and  established  in  its  stead  The  Most  Holy  Governing 
Synod.  "I  am  your  patriarch,"  was  his  reply  to  the  request  for 
its  restoration."     And  the  people  would  have  it   so ;   for  their 

^Alzog,  "Universal  Church  History,"  Vol.  III.,  pp.  468-470;  Stanley,  "The 
Eastern  Church,"  Lect.  X. 

*"It  is  clear  throughout  that  Peter  is  dealing  with  a  rival  power.  That 
Russia  maj'  have  but  one  head,  he  beheads  the  Church.  He  knew  how  much 
more  docile  a  tool  he  would  have  in  a  synod  composed  of  members  appointed 
by  the  sovereign,  divided  in  opinions  and  interests,  and  bearing  a  divided  re- 
sponsibility, than  in  a  supreme  pastor  independently  elected  and  head  of 
the  Church  in  his  own  right,  with  her  entire  power  centered  in  his  person." 
(Leroy-Beaulieu,  "Empire  of  the  T.sars,"  Vol.  IH..  p.  160.) 


44^  Christianity  as  Orgaiii.'^ed 

submission  to  the  Czar  is  essentiall}'  a  religious  feeling.  It  is 
that  of  Imperial  Rome  for  its  Emperor,  or  that  of  Japan  for  its 
jNlikado,  determined  by  the  imagination  and  reverence  of  the 
semi-Christian  Slav. 

Nowhere  else  in  Christendom  is  the  union  of  Church  and 
State  so  close — the  Church  so  utterly  lacking  in  autonomy.  No- 
where else  is  the  theocratic  idea  so  strongly  presented.  Moscow, 
the  more  ancient  seat  of  government,  with  its  Patriarchal  Cathe- 
dral, where  still  the  Czars  are  crowned,  is  tlie  Russian  Jerusalem; 
in  the  language  of  the  peasants:  "Our  holy  mother.  Moscow." 
Russia  herself  is  Holy  Russia.  Her  wars  are  crusades;  her  mis- 
sion, to  plant  the  cross  in  the  lands  of  the  Infidel  and  the  pagan. 
And  as  to  the  Czar.  God  himself  has  ordained  him,  clothed  him 
with  unlimited  ])ower.  set  him  to  rule  in  the  nation  and  the 
Church.  Are  there  those  who  do  not  belie\^e  that  the  "Orthodox 
monarchs  have  been  raised  to  the  throne  by  virtue  of  a  special 
grace  of  God — nor  that  at  the  moment  the  sacred  oil  is  laid  upon 
them,  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  infused  into  them  anent 
the  accomplishment  of  their  exalted  mission?"  Such  unbeliev- 
ers are  pronounced  accursed  every  year  by  the  Church :  "Anathe- 
ma!  anathema!  anathema!"  It  is  not  about  the  person  of  any 
priest  or  bishop,  as  a  visible  object,  but  about  the  person  of  the 
anointed  sovereign,  that  the  religious  sense  of  the  nation  gathers.^ 
It  is  under  the  spell  of  his  awful  claim  to  the  obedience  of  those 
whom  he  calls  "My  Children,"  that  the  people  have  bowed  and 
crossed  themselves  in  idolatrous  homage  and  fear  through  the 
centuries.^ 


^"There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  power  of  Russia's  Czar,  vast 
and  arbitrary  as  it  is,  derives  its  strength  from  the  Russian  people.  It  is  not 
the  Czar's  personal  power;  it  is  his  power  as  head  of  the  national  Church, 
as  semi-sacred  representative  of  the  race  and  its  historical  development  and 
organization."     (Woodrow  Wilson,  "The  State,"  p.  596.) 

"It  used  to  be  the  custom  for  the  people  to  fall  upon  their  knees  in  the 
street  when  the  Czar  passed  along:  but  this  form  of  idolatry  was  brushed 
aside  by  one  of  the  reforming  dicta  of  Peter  the  Great :  "Where  is  the  dif- 
ference," he  said,  "between  God  and  the  Czar,  if  the  same  honors  are  paid 
to  both  ?  The  honor  due  to  me  consists  in  people  crawling  before  me  less, 
but  in  serving  me  and  the  state  with  the  more  zeal  and  fidelity." 


TJie  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    449 

Not  that  this  spirit  of  unselfish  but  misdirected  loyalty  is  uni- 
versal. There  are  large  and  significant  exceptions.  That  "in- 
vasion of  ideas"  which  batteries  and  bayonets  are  impotent  to 
resist  has  not  spared  the  dominions  of  the  Czar.  The  long  pro- 
cession of  political  exiles  to  the  death-in-life  of  Siberia  tells  the 
story  of  a  determined  opposition  both  to  the  abuses  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  absolutism ;  and  now  more  hopefully  than  ever,  it  prom- 
ises their  overthrow.  Not  only  so.  but  a  great  army  of  Dissent- 
ers, rationalistic,  evangelical,  mystical,  some  exceeding  fanatical 
and  corrupt,  dating  from  the  seA-enteenth  century  onward,  and 
numbering  now  from  2,000,000  to  15,000.000,  represents  the 
protest  against  the  same  autocratic  rule  extended  into  the  sphere 
of  religion. 

The  members  of  the  Most  Holy  Governing  Synod  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Czar.  It  is  really  his  representative,  not  in  any 
l^roper  sense  the  representative  of  the  Church,  and  is  so  de- 
scribed in  both  the  Civil  and  the  Ecclesiastical  Code.  Is  the 
Czar,  then,  a  pope?  Not  so.  He  is,  indeed,  adored,  like  the 
pope,  as  the  image  of  God  on  earth,  with  none  abo\e  him ;  but 
his  ecclesiastical  authority  embraces  the  sphere  of  government 
only.  On  no  question  of  doctrine  has  he  ever  undertaken  to 
speak.     His  government  is  Cccsaro-papsl. 

The  Synod  is  composed  of  metropolitans,  archbishops,  bishops,  abbots, 
and  two  married  priests.  It  acts  under  the  control  of  the  High  Procurator, 
a  layman  appointed  by  the  Czar  to  see  that  it  executes  the  royal  will.  He 
presents  to  the  Synod  the  measures  which  the  Czar  would  have  it  pass,  and 
to  the  Czar  the  acts  of  the  Synod  for  his  approval  or  veto.  Indeed,  every 
act  of  the  Synod  must  be  validated  by  the  High  Procurator,  as  the  Czar's 
representative  before  the  body. 

The  Empire  is  divided  into  sixty  dioceses,  of  which  about  fifty  are  in 
Europe.  No  bishop  bears  rule  over  any  other.  The  titles  metropolitan, 
archbishop',  and  bishop  represent  diflferences  of  rank  or  dignity,  but  not  a 
graded  jurisdiction.  All  are  appointed  by  the  Czar,  but  on  the  nomination 
of  the  Synod,  w^hich  is  permitted  to  present  three  nominees  for  any  vacancy 
that  may  have  to  be  filled.  In  most  cases  the  bishops'  homes  are  in  convents 
and  their  habits  of  life  abstemious,  the  same  after  elevation  to  the  episcopate 
as  before. 

The  bishop  is  assisted  in  the  government  of  his  diocese  by  the  Diocesan 
Consistory,  whose  members  are  chosen  by  himself  and  whose  acts  are  not 
29 


450  Christianity  as  Organized 

valid  without  his  confirmation.  All  matters  of  any  moment  that  come  before 
this  body — as,  for  instance,  the  building  of  a  church  or  the  permission  of  a 
bishop  to  be  absent  as  long  as  three  days  from  his  diocese — must  be  referred 
to  the  Synod.  In  general,  the  machinery  of  government  is  heavy,  and  there 
is  much  officialism  and  many  abuses.* 

Bishops  are  chosen  from  the  monks,  or  "black"  clergy  (so 
called  from  the  color  of  their  garments).  Not,  however,  from 
the  common  class  of  monks :  for  these  as  a  rule  are  extremely 
ignorant  and  inert,  distinctly  inferior  to  the  secular  clergy.  To 
set  them  above  the  secular  clergy,  therefore,  in  the  office  of 
bishop,  would  be  a  preposterous  procedure.  But  when  an  edu- 
cated young  man — ha\ing  graduated,  let  us  say,  from  an  "acad- 
emy" or  a  church  "seminary" — decides  to  seek  admission  into 
the  priesthood,  he  has  before  him  the  choice  of  a  place  among 
either  the  married  or  the  celibate  priests.  If  he  choose  celibacy, 
he  takes  the  vows,  is  probably  appointed  teacher  in  a  church 
school,  then  perhaps  is  made  father  superior  of  a  monastery, 
and  may  soon  be  elected  bishop.  Of  the  monk's  life  as  it  is  or- 
dinarily lived,  he  knows  little  or  nothing.  So,  through  a  per- 
version of  the  original  idea  of  monachism,  the  wearing  of  the 
cowl  is  made  a  sine  qua  noii  to  the  bearing  of  the  episcopal 
staff:  "the  vow  of  poverty  has  become  the  door  of  fortune." 

The  married,  or  secular,  or  "white,"  clergy  (so  called  simply 
in  contradistinction  to  the  monks)  are  for  the  most  part  sons  of 
clergymen,  and  are  regularly  educated  for  their  office  in  a 
church  "seminary" — sometimes  also  taking  a  course  in  an  "acad- 
emy." As  a  class  they  li\e  and  die  very  poor.  Because,  not- 
withstanding the  close  connection  between  Church  and  State,  the 
majority  of  the  parish  priests  receive  no  stipend  from  the  gov- 
ernment. Generally  they  have  the  use  of  a  piece  of  land,  which 
the  peasants  of  their  charge  help  them  to  cultivate;  but  their 
principal  source  of  income  is  in  the  form  of  fees  for  particular 
services,  such  as  the  administration  of  sacraments,  the  pronoun- 
cing of  blessing  on  various  occasions,  and  the  burial  of  the  dead. 


^"The    Longer    Catechism    of    the    Orthodox    Eastern    Church ;"    Leroy- 
Beaulieu,  "The  Empire  of  the  Tsar." 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Pafria)'cJial,  Imperial,  Papal    45 * 

The  priest  is  often  not  a  man  of  high  Christian  character,  or 
even  of  temperate  habits.  That  he  should  drink  to  drunkenness 
— in  visiting  his  people  from  house  to  house,  for  instance — does 
not  seem  to  be  regarded  as  a  serious  fault.  And  he  may  always 
count  upon  being  respected  for  his  ofifice'  sake.  On  the  other 
hand,  his  parishioners,  the  great  majority  of  whom  in  most  cases 
are  peasants,  may  expect  from  him  a  certain  kindly  sympathy 
and  friendly  ministration.  Only  of  such  as  he  has  will  he  be 
able  to  give ;  therefore  of  preaching  he  does  almost  or  quite 
none,  and  in  spiritual  power  his  ministry  is  lamentably  deficient. 

The  church  service  in  Russia  is  rendered  in  an  old  form  of  the 
Slavonic  language,  the  alphabet  of  which  was  invented  by  the 
brothers  Cyril  and  ?^Iethodius,  as  a  part  of  their  missionary 
work  among  the  Slavs  in  the  ninth  century.  Up  to  the  eighteenth 
century  it  was  the  written  language  of  the  Russian  people;  and 
this  Church-Slavic  is  still  intelligible  to  them,  while  at  the  same 
time  impressive  because  of  its  antiquity  and  its  separation  from 
common  uses. 

The  Scriptures  have  been  translated  into  the  popular  dialect; 
and  the  Gospels  and  Psalms  are  read  or  listened  to  by  the  peas- 
ant in  his  squalid  home  with  much  enjoyment.  For  a  long  time, 
however,  the  older  version  (in  Church-Slavic)  was  preferred — 
the  language  of  everyday  life  seeming  to  detract  from  the  dig- 
nity and  charm  of  the  sacred  story. 

The  Russ  is  a  great  lover  of  ritual  forms ;  not,  it  would  seem, 
on  account  of  their  original  symbolic  meaning,  but  because  of 
their  impression  upon  the  senses,  and  the  magic  influence  with 
which  the  imagination  clothes  them.  Hence  the  large  element  of 
paganism  in  his  Christianity.  Mass  is  celebrated  (never  private- 
ly or  under  an  abridged  form,  as  with  the  Roman  Catholics), 
even  in  the  rudest  village  church,  in  an  ornate  and  dramatic 
manner  which  makes  it  gratifying  to  the  congregation.  The 
choir-singing  in  the  churches  is  also  greatly  admired. 

The  inveterate  tendency  toward  idolatry  is  seen  in  the  Russian 
use  of  icons.  These  are  pictures  or  carvings  on  wood  or  metal, 
some  of  them  not  of  larger  size  than  two  or  three  inches  square. 


452  Christianity  as  Organi::cd 

representing  some  sacred  person  or  object — commonly  a  saint  or 
the  Virgin  Mary.  Not  only  in  churches  but  also  in  other  public 
places  and  in  private  houses  they  are  everywhere  to  be  found. 
E^'ery  family  aims  to  haAC  at  least  one  in  each  room  of  the 
house.  They  are  recipients  of  the  greatest  superstitious  rever- 
ence. In  church  or  home  candles  or  lamps  are  burned  before 
them,  as  symbols  of  prayer.  The  visitor  is  expected  to  salute 
them,  the  first  thing,  on  entering  any  room  of  a  private  house. 
When  a  sinful  act  is  about  to  be  committed,  not  infrequently  a 
curtain  is  placed  before  the  icon,  that  the  sacred  presence  may 
not  be  violated  or  offended. 

5.  The  Papal  Idea  That  of  a  Bishop  of  Bishops. 

Very  different  from  any  of  the  foregoing  answers  as  to  the 
headship  of  the  Church  is  that  of  the  bishop  of  Rome.  "None 
of  us."  said  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  "does  make  liimself  a  bishop 
of  bishops."  But  Rome  has  declared  in  tones  of  thunder  for 
fourteen  hundred  years :  There  is  a  bishop  of  bishops,  even  the 
Roman  Bishop,  the  one  and  only  vicar  of  Christ  on  earth;  he 
may  judge  the  other  bishops,  and  may  not  be  judged  by  them. 
Here,  then,  the  prelatic  idea  reaches  its  logical  completeness. 
Not  a  number  of  rulers  co-equal  in  authority.  Divinely  appoint- 
ed, and  then  left  to  consult  and  agree  among  themselves  as  to 
the  making  and  the  administration  of  law.  Not  that ;  but  a  pure 
and  simple  monarchy — the  single  headship  of  the  pope,  who  is 
the  fountain  of  all  jurisdiction,  from  whose  authority  there  is 
no  appeal,  and  in  obedience  to  whom  rests  perpetually  the  unity 
of  the  Church. 

It  would  be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  authority  of  the  pope.  He 
is  the  supreme  legislator;  he  singly  and  alone  may  make  laws,  if 
he  will,  that  shall  be  binding  upon  the  whole  Church;  or,  if  he 
will,  may  convene  an  ecumenical  council,  preside  over  its  delib- 
erations, and  either  confirm  or  annul  its  decrees.  He  is  the 
supreme  judge,  the  highest  court  of  appeal  on  all  ecclesiastical 
questions ;  so  that,  in  the  language  of  the  Vatican  Council,  "in 
all  causes  the  decision  of  wliich  belongs  to  the  Church,  recourse 


TJic  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    453 

may  be  had  to  his  tribunal,"  and  ''none  may  reopen  the  judgment 
of  the  ApostoHc  See,  than  whose  authority  there  is  no  greater, 
nor  can  any  lawfully  rexiew  its  judgments."  He.  the  lawmaker 
and  judge,  is  also  the  supreme  executi-ve ;  appointing  all  the  high- 
er ecclesiastics ;  sending  out  legates  to  foreign  countries ;  estab- 
lishing or  repressing  any  religious  order;  releasing  his  subjects 
from  the  obligation  of  vows;  granting  tlie  remission  of  the  pen- 
alty of  temporal  punishments  for  sin ;  through  canonization  mak- 
ing certain  deceased  Christians  objects  of  worship  to  Christians 
on  earth ;  deposing  at  his  discretion  any  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon 
anywhere  in  the  Church. 

Nor  is  the  papal  authority  restricted  in  its  claim  to  Roman 
Catholics.  It  extends  (theoretically)  to  all  baptized  persons, 
Greek  and  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic — as,  indeed,  does  the 
authority  of  each  bishop  within  the  limits  of  his  diocese.  It  is 
not  even  restricted  to  the  ecclesiastic  sphere;  for  has  not  the  suc- 
cessor of  Peter  asserted  the  right  to  govern  the  nations  in  the 
interest  of  the  Church,  and  to  depose  any  civil  ruler  that  may 
resist  his  will? 

Neither  is  this  all.  Theologically  as  well  as  ecclesiastically  the 
Papal  See  is  supreme.  Speaking  ex  cathedra  to  the  whole  Church 
on  any  point  of  doctrine  or  morals,  the  pope  must  be  listened  to 
as  supernaturally  preserved  from  all  error.  He  is  the  absolutely 
infallible  teacher.  On  his  sole  authority,  with  no  reference  what- 
ever to  a  General  Council,  he  may  add  a  doctrine  to  the  creed 
of  the  Church  which  none  of  the  faithful  dare  refuse  to  profess; 
as,  for  instance,  when  Benedict  VIII.  authorized  the  addition  of 
the  Filioque  to  the  Nicene  Creed — and  shall  w^e  say  lost  to  Rome 
forever  the  four  patriarchates  of  the  East? — or  when  Pius  IX. 
defined  and  declared  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
Accordingly  both  the  papal  commands  and  the  papal  definitions 
of  doctrine  and  of  morals  are  to  be  accepted,  on  pain  of  exclu- 
sion from  the  one  Church  of  Christ  and  the  grace  of  salvation.' 

Since  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  the  pope  has  been 

'See   p.   347. 


454  Christianity  as  Organised 

elected  by  the  cardinals.  These  are  clerical  dignitaries,  receiv- 
ing their  office  immediately  from  the  pope,  seventy  in  number 
when  the  college  is  complete — bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  of 
Rome  and  its  vicinity.  E\-en  though  some  should  reside  in  for- 
eign lands — as.  for  instance,  one  in  England  or  one  in  America 
— they  are  all,  either  theoretically  or  actually,  connected  with  the 
churches  of  the  city  of  Rome.' 

It  should  be  noted  that  this  election  is  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  cardinals  not  because  they  are  supposed  to  represent  the 
whole  Church,  but  because  they  represent  the  diocese  of  the  city 
of  Rome  itself.  For  the  Holy  Father  is  first  of  all  bishop  of 
Rome,  and  in  virtue  of  this  office  becomes  universal  bishop.  Ap- 
propriately, therefore,  he  is  elected  by  the  clergy  of  his  own  dio- 
cese. 

Also,  according  to  a  custom  which  has  prevailed  for  five  hun- 
dred years  (since  Urban  VI.,  1378- 1382),  the  pope  is  always 
selected  out  of  the  college  of  cardinals.  But  there  is  no  written 
law  on  the  subject. 

The  Archbishop,  in  addition  to  the  superintendency  of  the  several  dioceses 
that  make  up  his  province,  has  a  diocese  of  which  he  alone  is  bishop.  He 
receives  reports  from  the  diocesan  bishops  and  makes  visitations  in  their 
dioceses  as  well  as  in  his  own.  It  is  his  prerogatve  also  to  call  provincial 
councils  and  preside  over  them. 

The  Bishop  takes  the  oversight  of  his  diocese  as  chief  executive  ofificer; 
and  in  addition  to  the  power  to  administer  all  the  sacraments  he  is  author- 

^"Nicholas  II.,  under  the  gitidance  of  Hildebrand,  now  a  cardinal,  revo- 
lutionized the  ancient  election  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  which,  like  that  of  all 
others,  had  been  by  the  concurrence  of  clerg\'  and  people.  His  decree  of 
1059  now  gave  the  initiative  of  the  election  to  the  xardinal  bishops  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Rome  and  the  cardinal  priests  in  that  city.  (Certain  chief 
functionaries,  being  the  'hinges'  on  which  the  rest  of  the  machine  moved, 
had  come  to  be  called  'cardinals ;'  and  their  elective  assembly  was  after- 
wards known  as  the  'conclave.')"     (Innes,  "Church  and  State,"  pp.  70,  71.) 

The  object  of  Hildebrand,  who  was  then  an  archdeacon  and  the  power 
behind  the  papal  throne,  was  to  free  the  election  of  the  popes  from  the  part 
which  the  emperors  had  long  been  accustomed  to  take  in  it  Hildebrand's 
own  election  to  the  papacy,  fourteen  years  after,  which  received  the  confirma- 
tion of  Henn,'  IV.,  was  the  last  instance  of  a  papal  election  confirmed  by  the 
Emperor. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  PafriarcJial,  Imperial,  Papal    455 

ized  to  consecrate  things  for  sacred  uses — such,  for  instance,  as  buildings 
for  public  worship  and  oil  for  extreme  unction.  He  appoints  the  priests  of 
his  diocese  (with  the  exception  of  certain  "irremovable"  ones)  or  removes 
them  at  his  will.  As  the  archbishop  has  his  own  diocese,  so  the  diocesan 
bishop  has  his  own  parish,  with  its  church  edifice  (the  cathedral,  or  church 
of  the  bishop's  chair).  In  him  also  rests — in  the  United  States,  at  least — tlie 
title  to  all  church  edifices. 

The  bishop  is  chosen  for  his  office  by  different  methods  in  different  coun- 
tries. In  the  United  States  the  process  is  somewhat  elaborate.  Certain 
priests  of  the  diocese,  the  "diocesan  consultors"  and  the  "irremovable  rec- 
tors," meet  together  and  select  the  three  men  who  seem  to  them  most  suit- 
able for  the  vacant  episcopal  chair,  and  send  their  names  arranged  in  the 
order  of  excellence  {digiiissuiiiis,  digiiior.  digniis),  to  the  Roman  Propa- 
ganda. At  the  same  time  they  send  these  sanxe  three  names  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  the  province  for  the  consideration  of  a  meeting  of  all  the  bishops 
of  the  province.  At  this  meeting  the  bishops  must  also  themselves  choose 
three  names  and  send  them  to  the  Propaganda  ;  and  in  case  of  theirs  being 
different  names  from  the  other  three,  they  must  indicate  the  reasons  there- 
for. Out  of  the  names  thus  presented  the  Propaganda  may  choose  one  or, 
if  they  see  fit,  may  reject  all  and  make  an  independent  choice.  But  in  every 
instance  the  final  choice,  or  confirmation  of  the  choice  of  others,  rests  with 
the  pope.     Without  him  no  bishop  can  be  made. 

The  rite  of  ordination  to  the  episcopacy  is  performed  by  three  bishops. 
Ordination  by  a  single  bishop  would  be  valid,  but  it  would  also  be  "illicit." 
In  South  America,  however,  a  bishop  may  be  ordained  by  one  bishop  and 
two  or  three  priests,  in  cases  where  it  is  difficult  to  secure  the  attendance  of 
three  bishops. 

The  bishop  administers  the  rite  of  confirmation.  In  the  case,  however, 
of  certain  priests  in  missions,  permission  to  confirm  is  given  by  the  pope. 
Which  seems  to  show  that  the  "power"  to  administer  this  sacrament  is  con- 
ferred in  ordination  to  the  priesthood ;  but  the  exercise  of  it  is  ordinarily  re- 
served for  the  bishop  only. 

The  Vicar-Apostolic  is  the  presiding  officer  of  a  missionary  district  not 
yet  erected  into  a  diocese. 

The  ministry  is  constituted  in  seven  orders,  of  which  the  four  lesser — 
namely,  those  of  Porter,  Reader,  Exorcist,  Acolyte — are  known  as  Minor 
Orders ;  and  the  three  greater — those  of  Subdeacon,  Deacon,  Priest — are 
called  Holy  Orders.  Ordination  to  any  one  of  these  orders  "imprints  a 
character,"  which  has  reference  to  the  saying  of  Mass;  so  that  the  ordinand 
can  never  lose  or  in  any  way  get  rid  of  the  peculiar  power  which  it  conveys. 
No  matter  how  much  he  might  desire  it.  he  cannot  again  become  a  layman.^ 
No  matter  though  he  should  degenerate  into  the  grossest  of  habitual  volup- 


'Cf.   the   effect  of  baptism   according  to  the   dogma  of  baptismal   regen- 
eration. 


45^  Christianity  as  Organised 

tuaries  or  the  crudest  of  criminals  or  the  most  radical  of  apostates  and 
infidels,  he  still  possesses  the  peculiar  power,  still  bears  the  "character,"  re- 
ceived in  ordination.^  Once  ordained  to  the  priesthood,  for  example,  he 
retains  unto  the  end  of  life,  as  a  very  part  of  himself,  the  power  to  change 
a  bit  of  bread  into  the  body  of  Christ  by  pronouncing  over  it,  with  the  in- 
tention of  effecting  such  a  change,  the  formula  of  consecration  ("Hoc  est 
culm  corpus  iiicitin"). 

The  same  thing,  it  may  be  noted,  is  not  true  of  the  power  to  hear  con- 
fessions and  grant  absolution.  In  order  to  exercise  this  function  one  must 
receive  at  the  hands  of  the  bishop  not  only  ordination  but  "jurisdiction"  in 
some  particular  diocese. 

The  priest  comes  into  direct  contact  with  the  people.  He  is  not  only  or- 
dained but  also  chosen  to  his  office  by  the  bishop.  He  must  rule  his  parish, 
administer  sacraments,  give  blessings,  hear  confessions,  pronounce  absolu- 
tions, and  preach.  Chief  of  all  his  functions,  the  one  in  virtue  of  which  he 
is  named  priest  and  not  simply  presbyter,  is  that  of  saying  Mass.  For  as 
God's  representative  he  is  authorized  by  the  Church  not  only  to  forgive 
sins,  but  to  change  the  very  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  on  the  altar 
into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  to  offer  it  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  and  with 
it  to  feed  the  souls  of  communicants. 

Married  priests  are  tolerated  by  the  Roman  churches  in  the  East  (the 
Uniates),  as  are  a  number  of  usages  not  permitted  in  tlie  West. 

Deacons  are  assistants  of  the  priests  (as  sub-deacons  are  assistants  of  the 
deacons),  authorized  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  to  read  the 
Go.spels  in  the  congregation,  and  to  preach.  They  are  eligible  for  promo- 
tion to  the  priesthood. 

The  laity  arc  intrusted  with  no  part  whatever  in  church  government. 
They  have  only  to  obey,  and  are  thoroughly  drilled  in  obedience  to  their 
rulers :  the  voice  of  the  priest  must  be  to  them  the  voice  of  God.^ 

The  general  administration  of  the  Church  is  carried  on  through  what  are 
called  Congregations.     These  are  boards  composed  of  ecclesiastics  appointed 


'"Orders  also  confer  another  grace,  which  is  a  special  power  in  reference 
to  the  Holy  Eucharist;  a  power  full  and  perfect  in  the  priest,  .  .  .  but 
in  the  subordinate  ministers  greater  or  less  in  proportion  to  their  approxi- 
mation to  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  altar.  This  power  is  also  denominated 
a  spiritual  character,  which,  by  a  certain  interior  mark  impressed  on  the 
soul,  distinguishes  the  ecclesiastic  from  the  rest  of  the  faithful,  and  devotes 
them  specially  to  the  divine  service."  ("Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent," 
Oh   the  Sacrament  of  Orders.) 

""Instruction  by  the  spoken  word  is  the  ordinary  mode  of  instruction  for 
the  larger  part  of  mankind,  especially  in  the  Church  of  God,  where  all  is 
(lone  by  the  way  of  authority.  Whether  it  be  a  matter  of  belief  or  of  con- 
duct, of  the  sharpness  of  precept  or  the  tenderness  of  counsel,  the  Christian 
must  learn  these  truths  and  these  rules  from  the  mouth  of  his  pastors." 
("Ribet,  L'  Ascetique  Chretienne."  p.  452.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  PafriarcJial,  Imperial,  Papal    457 

by  the  pope,  located  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and  presided  over  by  a  cardinal 
or  by  the  pope  himself.  One  is  called  the  Holy  Ofifice,  or  the  Holy  Roman 
Inquisition,  whose  business  it  is  to  investigate  and  to  try  cases  of  heresy. 
Even  bishops  may  be  brought  before  this  tribunal.  Another  is  the  Council, 
whose  function  is  to  interpret  the  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Still 
others  are  the  Propaganda,  which  has  charge  of  the  missionary  operations 
of  the  Church,  and  the  Index,  which  examines  books  suspected  of  heresy, 
and  prohibits  the  reading  of  such  as  are  condemned.  Eleven  Congregations 
in  all.' 

6.  Bishops"  and  Pope's  Order  That  ok  Priesthood. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  episcopate  is  not  included  in  the  Holy 
Orders.  The  bishop,  it  is  true,  stands  above  the  priest  in  the 
order  of  jurisdiction — somewhat  as  the  archbishop  stands  above 
the  bishop,  or  the  pope  at  the  head  of  the  whole  hierarcliy.'' 
Moreover,  he  is  made  the  administrator  of  a  sacranaent,  namely, 
ordination  to  the  priesthood,  which  the  mere  priest  cannot  ad- 
minister, and  of  another,  confirmation,  which  the  ])riest  cannot 
administer  without  a  special  dispensation  from  the  pope.  Never- 
theless his  episcopal  ordination  is  not,  like  ordination  to  the 
priesthood,  accounted  a  sacrament,  nor  as  "imprinting  a  char- 
acter." 

It  has  been  said  that,  inasmuch  as  this  ordination  is  necessary 
to  empower  him  to  ordain  and  (ordinarily)  to  confirm,  so  that 
without  the  bishop  no  one  can  be  received  into  the  ministry  or 
even  into  full  communion  with  the  Church,  the  question  as  to 


'"Canons  and  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent;"  "Catechism  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent"  (E.  T.  by  J.  Donovan)  ;  "The  Catholic  Encyclopedia"  (in 
process  of  publication),  Art.  Bishop,  and  others. 

^"Wherefore  the  Holy  Synod  declares  that,  besides  the  other  ecclesiastical 
degrees,  bishops,  who  have  succeeded  to  the  place  of  the  Apostles,  principally 
belong  to  this  hierarchical  order  [that  of  priesthood]."  (Decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  23d  Session,  ch.  4.) 

"The  order  of  priesthood,  although  essentially  one,  has  different  degrees 
of  dignity  and  power.  The  first  is  confined  to  those  who  are  simply  called 
Priests.  .  .  .  The  second  is  that  of  Bishops.  .  .  .  The  third  degree 
is  that  of  Archbishop.  .  .  .  Patriarchs  hold  the  fourth  place.  .  .  . 
Superior  to  all  these  is  the  Sovereign  Pontiff."  ("Catechism  of  Council  of 
Trent,"  On  Sacrament  of  Orders.)  Elsewhere  this  Catechism  speaks  of 
priesthood  as  the  sacrament  of  orders  "in  its  highest  degree." 


458  Christianity  as  Organised 

whether  the  episcopate  should  be  reckoned  a  Holy  Order  or  sim- 
ply an  order  of  jurisdiction  would  seem  to  be  a  question  of 
name  only/  But  in  point  of  fact  it  is  not  such  a  question.  Be- 
cause, according  to  definition,  a  Holy  Order  is  an  order  which 
confers  grace  with  reference  to  celebrating  Mass,  and  this  grace 
having  been  received  in  its  fullness  at  ordination  to  the  priest- 
hood none  of  it  can  be  received  at  the  subsequent  ordination 
to  the  episcopacy.  Therefore,  the  priesthood  must  be  the 
highest  Holy  Order,  and  the  episcopacy  not  a  Holy  Order  at 
all. 

Even  the  pope,  then,  can  stand  no  higher  in  Holy  Orders  than 
the  priesthood.  He  is  the  Chief  Priest,  the  Pontiff.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  that  when  elected  he  is  not  a  priest  at  all.  but  only  a  dea- 
con— as  in  former  times  was  now  and  then  the  case ;  or  lie  may 
be  but  a  layman,  which  has  occurred  in  three  instances."  It  is 
true  that  in  such  cases  he  will  have  the  diaconate,  the  priesthood, 
the  episcopate,  as  may  be  needed,  conferred  in  rapid  succession 
upon  him.  But  even  before  this  is  done  he  is  a  real  pope.  The 
whole  power  of  ruling,  judging,  and  teaching  is  upon  him;  only 
the  sacerdotal  functions  are  wanting.  Shall  this  be  called  an 
exception  to  tlie  rule  that  the  Roman  Catholic  layman  is  not  per- 
mitted to  take  part  in  the  government  of  his  Church? 

One  of  the  conspicuous  administrative  adjuncts  of  the  papal 
theocracy  is  the  celibacy  of  the  priest.  The  enforcement  of  this 
state  as  a  law  may  be  dated  in  tlie  pontificate  of  the  Pope  Hilde- 
brand  (1073-1085).  Before  his  time  sacerdotal  celibacy  was 
far  from  universal ;  but  through  the  influence  of  this  determined 
and  ruthless  pontiff  it  came  to  be  observed  everywhere  in  the 
West.  It  is  held  not  as  a  doctrine,  or  article  of  faith,  but  as  a 
matter  of  discipline.  The  Council  of  Trent,  indeed,  in  two  of  its 
canons  pronounces  an  anathema  upon  those  who  say  that  priests 
or  monks  may  contract  a  valid  marriage,  or  who  say  that  it  is 
not  better  and  more  blessed  to  remain  in  celibacy  than  to  enter 
the  state  of  matrimony ;  but  it  does  not  define  sacerdotal  celibacy 

^Gore,  "Church  and  Ministr3%"  p.  105,  n. 
^Stanley,  "Christian  Institntior.?,"  p.  238. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal   459 

as  a  doctrine'  Hence  tlic  ordination  of  married  men  to  the 
priesthood  might  be  permitted  in  the  \\'est.  as  it  is  in  fact  in  the 
East,  under  the  present  doctrinal  definitions. 

Of  the  superior  availabiht}'  of  a  celibate  priesthood  for  cer- 
tain ecclesiastical  purposes,  there  can  be  no  question.  The  mili- 
tary chief  prefers  the  unmarried  soldier.  Recruiting  officers  of 
the  American  arni}^  advertise  for  "unmarried  men."  The  fewer 
family  affections  and  interests,  the  better.  Let  the  army  have 
the  undivided  interest  antl  attention  of  its  soldiers,  so  as  to  be- 
come the  best  possible  fighting  machine.  So  likewise  with  the 
soldier  of  the  papal  army.  He  must  be  free  to  move  here  or 
there  and  to  do  this  or  that,  without  the  "impedimenta"  of  wife 
and  children.  Let  him  renounce  the  endearments  and  responsi- 
bilities of  a  home.  Let  the  Church  be  his  home,  his  household, 
his  all.  So.  it  is  hoped,  will  he  become  more  whole-hearted  and 
obedient  in  the  service  of  his  chief. 

But  so  also  will  that  which,  left  where  the  Master  and  his 
Ajx)stles  left  it.  may  be  in  individual  instances  a  blessed  and 
abundantly  useful  state,  become,  when  hardened  into  an  eccle- 
siastical law,  and  especially  when  conjoined  with  the  confes- 
sional, a  source  of  injury  and  corruption  which  far  outbalance 
its  benefits."  It  is  not  primarily  a  cjuestion  of  ecclesiastical  power, 
but- of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"I  incline  to  the  belief,"  says  Cardinal  Gibbons,  "that,  under 
God,  the  Church  has  no  tower  of  strength  more  potent  than  the 
celibacy  of  her  clergy.'"*  That  she  has  no  more  potent  source  of 
moral  impurity  and  contamination  in  her  ministry  mav  be  be- 
lieved upon  eciually  reasonable  and  historic  grounds. 

Nor  can  there  be  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  the  fine  qualities 
of  personal  purity,  sympathy,  insight  into  human  nature,  human- 
ness,  unselfishness  are  strengthened  and  developed  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  by  the  home  life  in  hoi}'  matrimony. 

^Session  XXIV.,  Canons  ix.,  x. 

The  opposite  view  is  taken,  but  does  not  seem  to  be  well  sustained,  by 
Lea,  "History  of  Sacerdotal  Celibacy,"  pp.  640-642,  n. 

"Matt.  xix.  3-12:  T  Cor.  ix.  5;  i  Tim.  iii.  2;  Heb.  xiii.  4. 
"The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers,"  p.  416. 


460  Christianity  as  Organised 

7.  Audacity  of  the  Papal  Claim. 

One  is  dazed  at  the  awful  audacity  of  the  papal  claim — "the 
corrupt  and  terrible  simplicity  of  Rome."  But  the  case  is  some- 
what relieved  by  the  consideration  that  no  single  mind  conceived 
it  and  no  single  generation  dared  to  set  it  forth.  It  would  in- 
deed be  the  crudest  of  unhistoric  fancies  to  suppose  that  some 
one  man  on  some  one  day  rose  up  and  grasped  all  at  once  the 
stupendous  in\-estiture  of  authority  that  is  now  represented  by 
the  name  of  a  Hildebrand  or  a  Pius  X.  The  usurpation  has 
been  shared  by  many  minds  and  by  successive  ages.  \Ye  could 
hardly  think  of  any  man  standing  alone  and  calmly  pronouncing 
the  curses  of  an  ecumenical  council ;  but  a  man  will  sit  side  by 
side  witli  a  thousand  others,  to  deliberate  and  vote,  to  represent 
a  constituency,  to  obey  his  superiors,  and  will  yield  to  what  may 
seem  to  be  the  logic  of  events,  and  so  agree  to  conciliar  decrees. 
In  like  manner  the  bishops  of  Rome,  accepting  as  an  inheritance 
the  claims  and  aspirations  of  their  predecessors,  add  something 
thereto,  sustained  by  the  approval  of  many  scholars  and  eccle- 
siastic leaders,  from  time  to  time.  Verily  it  requires  courage 
to  walk  alone ;  but  what  can  one  not  do  when  supported  by  sym- 
pathy, companionship,  public  opinion,  the  spirit  of  the  body  to 
which  one  belongs  ? 

Again,  there  lies  heavy  upon  every  human  soul  the  burden  of 
personal  religious  responsibility.  But  the  papist  loses  somewhat 
of  its  painfulness.  It  is  not  the  habit  of  his  life  to  think  and 
act  for  himself  in  the  matter  of  religion.  That  is  too  much : 
who  is  he  that  he  shall  undertake  the  tremendous  task  ?  Let  him 
escape  from  himself.  He  will  make  the  Church  a  confessor  and 
commit  both  judgment  and  conscience  to  its  keeping.  It  is  the 
lesson  he  learned  and  the  spirit  he  received  in  childhood.  P'or  to 
most  of  its  advocates  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  has  been,  through 
many  generations,  an  inheritance,  with  all  the  sacred  and  pow- 
erful associations  of  that  great  word.  'T  have  imbibed  her  doc- 
trine." says  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  the  Introduction  to  "The  Faith 
of  Our  Fathers."  "with  my  mother's  milk.  I  have  made  her  his- 
tory and  theology  the  study  of  my  life.     ...     It  is  to  me  a 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Patriarchal,  Imperial,  Papal    461 

duty  and  labor  of  ]o\-e  to  speak  the  truth  concerning  my  ven- 
erable mother,  especially  as  she  is  so  much  maligned  in  our 
day."  Thus  is  such  a  one  led  to  profess  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
and  to  do  his  little  part,  under  the  pressure  of  their  spirit  and 
authority,  to  transmit  it  to  succeeding  generations.  .\  powerful 
ad^'Ocate.  in  its  way,  is  the  imagination  of  the  heart. 

But  the  historic  papacy  calls  for  support  in  Scripture,  in  rea- 
son, and  in  primitive  Christian  history,  with  nothing  but  echo  as 
an  answer.  Because  it  has  not  been  through  the  operation  of 
such  forces  as  Scripture  or  reason  or  primitive  Christian  history, 
but  in  defiance  of  them,  that  it  has  grafted  its  awful  weight  upon 
the  Church  of  Christ.  By  motives  and  under  conditions  similar 
to  those  through  which,  during  so  much  of  this  world's  tragic 
history,  political  despotism  has  become  a  possibility  and  a  fact, 
must  this  greatest  of  spiritual  despotisms  be  explained.  Out  of 
priestly  assumption,  the  love  of  rule,  the  powerfully  suggestive 
example  of  political  Rome,  and  a  false  view  of  the  Church's 
economy,  on  the  part  of  the  priest,  and  out  of  intellectual  in- 
ertness, spiritual  ignorance,  weakness  of  will,  and  that  perverted 
respect  for  instituted  authority  which  makes  it  a  substitute  for 
truth  and  life,  on  the  part  of  the  people,  has  it  arisen  and  per- 
sisted. 


V. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  IDEA:  SCRIPTURAL,  EXPEDIENT 
—EARLIER  FORMS. 

Is  it  inevitable  that  bishops  should  put  forth  unfounded  claims 
to  rulership  and  spiritual  power  in  the  Church  of  God?  Can  no 
succession  of  men  be  safely  charged  with  so  high  and  responsi- 
ble an  office  as  the  episcopate,  and  no  church  with  the  duty  of 
restraining  it  within  the  true  and  scriptural  limitations?  Un- 
doubtedly the  bestowal  of  extraordinary  authority  and  oppor- 
tunity of  official  influence  is  attended  with  extraordinary  risk. 
For  the  highest  points  of  an  organization  are  those  which  expose 
it  to  the  gravest  perils:  they  stand  nearest  the  electric  storms. 
The  human  body  would  be  less  liable  to  fatal  injury  if  it  were 
organized  without  a  brain.  The  most  hazardous  office  in  a  re- 
public is  that  of  president,  and  in  an  army  that  of  commander- 
in-chief.  As  is  the  effectiveness  of  use,  so  is  the  destructiveness 
of  abuse. 

If,  then,  in  the  case  of  the  episcopate,  its  use  be  inseparable 
from  the  serious  abuses  by  which  it  has  so  often  been  dishon- 
ored, if  all  the  efficiency  it  can  add  to  the  Church  and  all  the 
perils  it  can  forefend  are  outweighed  by  the  episcopal  peril  it- 
self, the  part  of  wisdom  would  doubtless  be  to  do  without  the 
office.  Better  forego  its  great  possible  advantages  than  suffer 
the  equally  great  perversions  to  which  it  is  liable. 

Happily,  however,  such  is  not  the  alternative.  As  more  than 
one  illustrative  example  has  proved,  the  idea  of  episcopal  govern- 
ment may  be  safeguarded  against  prelatic  and  hieratic  encroach- 
ments, and  the  venerable  title  of  bishop,  though  "soiled  by  all 
ignoble  use,"  may  be  borne  equitably  and  nobly.  The  Apostles 
of  Jesus,  in  their  oversight  of  the  churches,  may  have  and  do 
have  genuine  successors  in  our  own  age.' 

^"When  a  search  is  being  made  for  scriptural  precedents  or  hints  in  favor 
of  episcopac3%   the  position   of  the   Apostles  with   reference   to  deacons   and 
(462) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         463 

Let  us  make  note  of  certain  forms  in  which  the  idea  of  a 
scriptural  and  expedient  episcopate  has  found  historic  expres- 
sion. 

I.  Origin  of  the  Episcopate  in  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church. 

It  was  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation 
that  all  ecclesiastical  power  inheres  in  local  churches,  or  congre- 
gations. The  purpose  of  a  church  is  to  minister  the  word  of 
God  and  the  sacraments ;  and  any  church  has  tlie  right  to  elect 
and  ordain  its  own  pastor,  who  tlius  becomes  its  official  organ 
for  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose.  In  brief,  it  has  author- 
ity from  God  to  do  in  its  sphere  whatever  may  be  done  by  the 
universal  Church.  Ministers  and  people  are  in  exactly  the  same 
sense  a  priesthood  unto  God,  being  higher  or  lower  in  office  only, 
not  in  spiritual  power. 

Hence  no  higher  ecclesiastical  authority  than  that  of  the  con- 
gregation is  necessary  to  ordination  to  the  Christian  ministr}^ 
"If  any  pious  laymen  were  banished  to  a  desert,"  says  Luther,^ 
"and  having  no  regularly  constituted  priest  among  them,  were  to 
agree  to  choose  to  that  office  one  of  their  own  number,  married 
or  unmarried,  this  man  would  be  as  truly  a  priest  as  if  he  had 
been  consecrated  by  all  the  bishops  in  the  world." 

Thus  far  the  organizing  principle  must  be  characterized  as 
pure  Congregationalism.  But  it  was  also  held  that  no  specific 
form  of  organization  has  been  prescribed  in  the  New  Testament; 
that  therefore  the  Christian  congregations  are  not  bound  to  stand 
independent  of  one  another,  but  may,  if  they  choose,  organize 
themselves   under   a   common   representative   government ;    that 

presbyters  will  not  be  overlooked  by  those  who  are  on  the  watch  for  inti- 
mations of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit;  but  to  affirm,  as  Cyprian  does,  that  the 
Apostles  were  formally  bishops,  is  to  speak  without  the  warrant  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  in  forgetfulness  of  the  essential  points  of  distinction  between  the 
Apostolic  office  and  that  of  a  bishop  in  later  times."  (Litton,  "The  Church 
of  Christ,"  p.  284.) 

^In  an  "Appeal  to  His  Imperial  Majesty  and  to  the  Christian  Nobility  of 
the  German  Nation,"  in  the  year  1520.  (D'Aubigne,  "History  of  the  Ref- 
ormation" (1849J,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  476,  477.) 


464  Christianity  as  Organised 

moreover,  as  a  matter  of  order,  efficiency,  and  Christian  frater- 
nity, they  ought  to  do  so/ 

Now  of  the  government  that  arose  under  the  influence  of  these 
ideas,  one  feature  was  an  episcopate.  For  the  Lutheran  Refor- 
mation was  conservative,  not  revolutionary.  Luther  would  de- 
stroy nothing  except  what  was  suhversive  of  God's  word.  Apart 
from  this  conservative  spirit,  indeed,  both  Luther  and  Melanchthon 
were  inclined  to  favor  the  episcopate  as  supplying  a  real  need  in 
church  government."  The  three  Roman  Catholic  bishops,  there- 
fore, who  in  Germany  embraced  the  reformed  doctrines,  were 
permitted  to  retain  their  sees,  as  spiritual  rulers ;  and  evangelical 
bishops  were  also  appointed — one,  Nicolas  of  Amsdorf,  installed 
by  Luther  himself,  and  another,  George  of  Anhalt,  by  Luther 
and  Melanchthon. 

This  episcopal  ofhce,  however,  did  not  prove  to  be  permanent. 
It  was  overborne  and  allowed  to  lapse,  under  the  ecclesiastical 
power  of  the  civil  rulers,  "the  episcopate  of  the  prince.'"'     And 


^"As  order  is  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  every  associate  body,  and  as 
Jesus  Christ  has  left  no  entire,  specific  form  of  government  and  discipline 
for  his  Church,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  individual  church  to  adopt  such  regu- 
lations as  appear  to  them  most  consistent  with  the  spirit  and  precepts  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  best  calculated  to  subserve  the  interests  of  the 
Church   of   Christ. 

"And  as  men  exercising  the  right  of  private  judgment  agree  in  the  opinion 
that  Christianity  requires  a  social  connection  among  its  professors,  .  .  . 
reason  dictates  that  those  holding  similar  views  of  faith  and  practice  should 
associate  together;  that  it  is  their  duty  to  require  for  admission  to  church 
membership  among  them,  or  for  induction  into  the  sacred  office,  and  for  con- 
tinuance in  either,  such  terms  as  they  deem  most  accordant  with  the  pre- 
cepts and  spirit  of  the  Bible. 

"Upon  the  broad  basis  of  these  principles  was  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church  founded,  immediately  after  the  Reformation.  Adhering  to  the  same 
principles,  the  Church  in  America  is  governed  by  three  Judicatories :  the 
Council  of  each  individual  church,  the  District  Synods,  .  .  .  and  one 
General  Synod."  (Formula  of  Government  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  Ch.  L,  sec.  S,  6,  7.) 

"Giesler,  "Church  History,"  Vol.  IV.,  sec.  46. 

'"According  to  Luther,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  princes  to  use  their  authority 
in  religious  matters  as  well  as  in  all  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare 
of  their  subjects.  .  .  .  Thus  the  prince  was,  by  virtue  of  his  position, 
.     .     .     the  general  superintendent  or  bishop  in  his  dominions.     .     .     .     .\nd 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         465 

here  is  shown  the  unhappy  flaw  in  the  Lutheran  church-building. 
It  began  with  evangehcal  hberty  in  both  organization  and  doc- 
trine ;  but  soon  degenerated,  as  to  organization,  into  forms  of 
pohtical  exi)e(Hency :  or,  as  has  been  said,  "it  began  in  ideas  and 
ended  in  force."  Rulers  of  the  State  became  overseers  of  the 
flock  of  Christ.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  this  was  a  necessity  of 
the  times,  to  prevent  the  o\'erthrow  of  the  great  Reformer's  work 
by  the  compact  and  powerful  hierarchy  of  Rome,  with  its  polit- 
ical allies.  Governments  were  arrayed,  with  scepter  and  sword, 
against  the  gospel.  Tf  then  other  governments  were  readv  to 
organize,  defend,  and  maintain  it,  why  not  accept  their  services, 
even  at  the  cost  of  giving  them  authority  to  rule  the  organized 
Christianity  which  they  had  saved?  Either  that  or  the  violent 
suppression  of  Protestantism  at  its  very  outset — thus  it  has  been 
argued — was  the  alternative. 

But  if  so,  we  must  believe  it  a  most  unhappy  necessity  under 
which,  in  that  period  of  storm  and  stress,  the  less  of  two  such 
evils  was  chosen.  Because,  on  the  one  hand,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  "religious"  wars  which  followed  had  a  most  har- 
dening effect  upon  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  age;  and,  on  the 
other,  the  best  that  can  be  hoped  for  from  the  rule  of  the  State 
over  the  Church  is  to  secure  a  uniform  ecclesiastical  condition,  to 
the  injury,  as  the  history  of  Christendom  has  repeatedl}-  shown, 
of  genuine  Christian  faith  and  experience.  Conformity  will  take 
the  place  of  piety,  and  confession  make  light  of  conviction.  Con- 
science will  bow  the  knee  to  the  Baal  of  political  power.  Let  Ju- 
dah,  at  war  with  Israel,  call  for  the  aid  of  Assyria,  and  she  may 
expect  to  purchase  victory  at  the  price  of  some  form  of  vassalage 
to  her  powerful  ally. 

The  main  features  of  the  episco])acy,  however — those,  namelv, 
of  ordination,  visitation,  and  general  superintendence  of  the 
churches — have  been  perpetuated  by  the  Lutheran  Church  of 
Germany  unto  the  present  time  in  the  office  of  Superintendent.* 


this  is  the  origin  of  the  German   State  Churches."      (Nuelsen,   "Luther  the 
Leader,"  p.  179.) 

^The  views  of  the  Lutheran  theologians  with  respect  to  the  episcopacy  are 


466  Christianity  as  Organised 

The  Superintendent  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  Consistory, 
Avhich  is  a  body  of  ministers  and  laymen  apjiointed  liy  the  civil 
ruler  to  take  general  charge  of  all  ecclesiastical  matters. 

Tn  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norw^ay,  and  some  other  European 
countries,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  always  had  a  properly  epis- 
copal government.  In  Sweden  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that, 
like  the  Church  of  England,  it  has  kept  up  the  line  of  succession 
unbroken  from  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops.  Nowhere,  how- 
ever, has  it  regarded  this  or  any  other  specific  form  of  organi- 
zation as  mandatory  or  essential.  Governmental  forms  are 
classed  with  the  externalities  and  not  with  the  essentials  of  the 
Church.  Otherwise,  no  doubt,  the  Lutheran  Churches  generally 
in  Europe  and  America  would  acquire,  as  they  might  so  easily 
do,  a  line  of  ministerial  ordinations  from  the  succession  of  bish- 
ops in  Sweden — or  would  have  done  so  long  ago.^ 

It  should  be  added  that  in  European  Lutheranism,  contrary  to 
its  original  principle,  the  laity  have  very  little  share  in  govern- 
ment. 

2.  Organic  Development  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
IN  America. 

In  America  Lutherans  appeared  in  considerable  numbers  at 
an  early  date.  They  came  as  lovers  of  liberty  to  seek  a  new 
home  for  themselves  and  their  children,  though  it  should  be  in 
a  wilderness,  free  from  the  oppressive  conditions  of  tlie  father- 
land. But  for  a  long  time  their  organization  was  extremely  fee- 
indicated  in  the  Confession  presented  by  certain  German  princes  and  the 
magistrates  of  two  imperial  cities  to  the  Emperor  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg, 
in  1530:  "Now  our  meaning  is  not  to  have  rule  taken  from  the  Bishops;  but 
this  one  thing  only  is  requested  at  their  hands,  that  they  would  suffer  the 
gospel  to  be  purely  taught,  and  that  they  would  relax  a  few  observances, 
which  cannot  be  held  without  sin."     (Augsburg  Confession,  Part  II.,  Art.  7.) 

'"The  Apostolic  legitimacy  of  the  Swedish  Episcopate  is  no  more  disputed 
than  is  that  of  the  Church  of  England;  and  if  this  institution  were  deemed 
essential  to  the  government  of  Christ's  Church,  or  believed  to  have  any  in- 
spired authority,  the  Luther.in  clergy  and  congregations  of  this  country  could 
readily  avail  themselves  of  its  benefits."  (Prof.  E.  J.  Wolf,  in  "Church 
Reunion."  p.  98.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         a^'^7 

ble.  Was  this  a  defective  inheritance  from  their  honored  found- 
er? It  is  certain,  at  any  rate,  that  even  the  greatest  of  prophet- 
teachers  or  leaders  transmit  tlieir  defects  and  errors,  as  well  as 
that  which  is  wise  and  powerful  and  good,  to  succeeding  gener- 
ations. He  who  should  refuse  a  position  of  leadership  till  prac- 
tically sure  that  his  work  will  suffer  no  discount  and  result  in  no 
harm  or  loss  must  refuse  unto  the  end.  Luther  was  not  the 
same  strong  and  indomitable  path-breaker  in  matters  of  organi- 
zation as  in  religious  liberty  and  personal  Christian  faith.  What 
wonder,  then,  if  his  American  followers  should  have  seen  their 
way  less  clearly  here  than  in  some  other  directions?  t\1  least 
such  was  the  fact.  In  the  language  of  one  of  its  present-day 
theologians,  "Lutheranism  in  this  country  was  for  a  century,  if 
not  'void,'  yet  'witliout  form,'  and  'darkness'  brooded  over  its 
chaotic  state.  There  was  no  organism :  Lutherans  were  here, 
but  hardly  a  Lutheran  Church."^  But  a  better  day  was  dawn- 
ing, which  has  long  since  brightened  over  the  land.  With  the 
important  negative  advantage  of  freedom  from  any  alliance  with 
the  State,  this  evangelical  Church  has  had  untrammeled  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  itself  organically  after  its  own  ideals.  So,  it 
has  vested  much  power  in  the  congregation,  and,  follow^ing  the 
example  of  the  Reformed  Church,  has  universally  adopted  syn- 
odical  government.  No  distinct  episcopal  office  has  been  insti- 
tuted. But  it  has  been  made  the  duty  of  presidents  of  synods 
or  of  conferences,  either  personally  or  through  others  author- 
ized by  them,  to  ordain  and  install  ministers,  make  visitations  to 
the  churches,  and  perform  similar  acts  of  general  superintend- 
ence."   A  more  fully  developed  government — which,  in  the  opin- 

'E.  J.  Wolf,  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Art.  "The  Lutheran  Church." 
"Organization,"  says  Professor  Wolf  in  this  same  article,  "has  never  been  a 
distinguishing  glory  of  Lutheranism." 

*"It  is  their  [the  presidents  of  synods']  duty  to  preside  at  synodical  meet- 
ings, to  present  matters  that  require  action,  to  propose  candidates  to  vacant 
congregations,  to  perform  or  authorize  the  performance  of  official  synodical 
acts,  such  as  ordination,  installation,  visitation,  etc.  (though  these  latter 
functions  are  often  specially  assigned  to  the  presidents  of  conferences),  to 
execute  discipline,  and  in  general  to  be  advisers  of  the  synodical  congre- 
gations."    (The  Lutheran  Cyclopedia,  Art.  "Presidents  of  Synods.") 


468  Christianity  as  Organized 

ion  of  some  of  its  friends,  would  add  strength,  to  this  "Church 
of  the  Reformation" — might  assign  such  duties  to  a  special  su- 
perintendent, and  make  them,  together  with  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  his  chief  or  only  official  work/  But  thus  far  in  its  his- 
tory American  Lutheranism  has  been  distinguished  by  the  strong 
and  steady  emphasis  which  it  has  laid  upon  liturgy,  sacraments, 
and  forms  of  doctrine,  rather  than  by  its  forms  of  government. 
Some  of  the  Lutheran  synods,  or  groups  of  churches,  are  in- 
dependent— according  to  recent  statistics,  no  fewer  than  twenty- 
four/  But  the  large  majority  are  organized  under  one  or  an- 
other of  the  four  higher  representative  bodies:  The  General  Syn- 
od, The  General  Council,  The  General  Synod  of  the  South,  and 
The  Synodical  Conference.  It  is  the  organization  of  the  churches 
under  the  General  Synod,  which,  however,  does  not  materially 
differ  from  that  which  obtains  under  the  other  general  governing 
bodies,  that  will  here  be  noted : 

There  are  three  classes  of  church  officers — pastors,  elders,  and  deacons. 

Pastors  are  elected  by  the  congregation,  and  are  held  amenable  for  their 
conduct  to  the  Synod  of  which  they  are  members.  All  ministers  are  of  one 
and  the  same  order.  They  are  licensed  and  ordained  by  the  Ministeriuin ;  or, 
in  Districts  in  which  no  Ministerium  is  held,  by  the  Synod.  A  licentiate  has 
authority  to  baptize  and  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  well  as  to  preach 
and  to  conduct  public  worship. 

Elders  are  assistants  of  the  pastor  in  government,  discipline,  and  the 
general  work  of  the  church. 

Deacons  assist  the  pastor  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  attend  to  the  wants  of 
the  poor,  and  administer  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  church.  Both  elders 
and  deacons  are  elected  by  the  people,  and  may  not  serve  less  than  two  years 
or  more  than  eight  without  reelection. 

The  Church  Council  is  composed  of  the  pastor,  who  is  ex  officio  its  chair- 
man, the  elders,  and  the  deacons  of  a  particular  church.     It  is  the  function 

'"Their  rights  [those  of  the  Superintendents  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
Germany]  are  constitutionally  assigned  to  presidents  of  conferences  and 
synods  in  America.  What  is  essential  in  episcopal  functions  is  perhaps  best 
preserved  by  separate  existence,  which  must  be  well  guarded  constitutionally 
against  Anglicanism  and  Romanism — /.  e.,  wrong  opinions  of  government, 
succession,  and  historic  value  and  position."  (The  Lutheran  Cyclopedia, 
Art.  "Bishops.") 

^According  to  the  census  of  1890,  there  were  also  231  independent  Lutheran 
congregations.     (Wright,  "Practical  Sociolog}',"  p.  74.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         469 

of  the  Council  to  receive  members  by  vote  into  the  churcli,  and  to  exercise 
disciphne  in  the  form  of  admonition,  suspension,  and  expulsion,  and  in  gen- 
eral to  care  for  the  interests  of  the  congregation.  Any  member  may  appeal 
from  an  unsatisfactory  decision  of  the  Council  in  his  case  to  the  Synod. 

Conferences  are  meetings  of  the  ministers  within  certain  Districts  into 
which  a  synod  may  be  divided,  for  the  purpose  of  preaching,  consultation, 
and  attention  to  any  business  that  shall  be  referred  to  them  either  by  the 
Synod  or  by  a  local  congregation. 

The  Ministerium  consists  of  the  ordained  ministers  of  a  Synod,  and  may 
be  convened  either  during  the  session  of  a  Synod  or  at  any  other  time.  Its 
chief  duty  is  to  license  and  ordain  ministers. 

The  Synod  is  composed  of  all  the  ordained  ministers  and  licentiates,  to- 
gether with  one  lay  delegate  elected  by  the  Church  Council  from  each  pas- 
toral charge,  within  a  certain  prescribed  District.  In  addition  to  its  judicial 
duties,  it  must  devise  and  execute  various  measures  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  cause  of  Christ  within  its  bounds.     It  meets  annually. 

The  General  Synod  is  composed  of  ministerial  and  lay  delegates  in  equal 
numbers  from  the  Synods.  It  meets  biennially,  and  its  powers  are  such  as 
the  following:  To  review  the  proceedings  of  Synods;  to  provide  books  of 
worship  and  catechetical  instruction  for  the  Church;  to  make  provision, 
through  the  creation  of  Boards  of  Management  and  otherwise,  for  the  mis- 
sionary and  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  Church ;  to  promote  harmony 
among  the  Synods  embraced  in  its  jurisdiction  ;  and  to  be  sedulously  regard- 
ful of  "every  casual  rise  and  progress  of  unity  of  sentiment  among  Chris- 
tians in  general,  in  order  that  the  blessed  opportunities  to  promote  concord 
and  unity,  and  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  may  not  pass  by 
neglected  and  unavailing."^ 

3.  Rise  of  the  Episcopate  among  the  Bohemian  Brethren. 

There  is  even  an  earlier  reformed  episcopate  than  that  of  the 
Lutherans.  Sixteen  years  before  Luther  was  born  the  first  bish- 
op of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  or  the  Unity  of  the  Brethren 
(Unitas  Fratrum),  was  consecrated.  The  Brethren  were  fol- 
lowers of  the  noble  Bohemian  martyr,  John  Hus.  The  bloody 
Hussite  war,  in  which  Bohemia  successfully  resisted  her  Roman- 
ist enemies,  had  run  its  course.  A  national  church,  the  Utra- 
quists,  or  Calixtines — so  called  because  they  restored  the  cup  in 
the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  laity — had  been  established.     But  this 

*Form  of  Government  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church ;  The  Lutheran 
Cyclopedia,  Arts.  "Bishop,"  "Superintendent,"  and  the  like;  Jacobs,  "The 
Lutherans,"  in  American  Church  History  Series. 


47^  Christianity  as  Organised 

church  after  a  time  submitted  to  reconciliation  to  Rome  and  be- 
came extremely  corrupt  in  both  doctrine  and  practice. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  tliat  the  modest  undertaking 
of  the  Brethren  be^an.  Holding  the  doctrines  of  Hus,  they  pro- 
posed to  carry  on  his  work,  as  the  Lord  might  open  the  way,  ac- 
cepting the  Scriptures  as  their  one  rule  of  faith,  and  maintaining 
a  godly  discipline.  Near  tlie  village  of  Kunwald,  amid  the  for- 
ests of  a  narrow,  secluded  \alley  under  the  shadow  of  the  Gratz 
Mountains,  they  found  a  place  of  retreat  in  a  perilous  time. 

Their  original  intention  was  to  form  not  a  separate  church, 
but  rather  a  society  in  the  Established  Church.  In  the  course  of 
ten  years,  however,  a  synod  was  held  in  which  a  body  of  princi- 
ples was  adopted,  and  the  determination  reached  to  withdraw 
from  tlie  national  Establishment  and  form  an  independent  or- 
ganization. 

The  ministers  whom  they  elected  received  ordination  from  two 
Waldensian  bishops,  who  had  been  ordained  to  tlieir  office  by 
bishops  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.^  So,  without  prelatic  or 
sacerdotal  motive,  but  simply  as  a  matter  of  order  and  expe- 
diency, this  new  line  of  Christian  ministers  put  itself  in  connec- 
tion with  the  historic  line  of  tactual  succession  in  the  Church  of 
the  Waldenses  and  of  Rome.' 

Now  what  was  the  form  of  organization  thus  effected?  It 
was  that  of  an  episcopate,  together  with  an  Ecclesiastical  Coun- 
cil: five  bishops  (one  being  recognized  as  primate,  or  chief),  and 
ten  elders,  some  of  whom  were  ministers  and  some  laymen. 

^De  Schweinit7.,  "Histoiy  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,"  C!i.  XVI. 

""The  Synod  was  of  opinion  that  in  the  times  of  the  Apostles  there  had 
been  no  difference  between  a  bishop  and  a  priest,  or  presbyter,  and  that 
therefore  the  priests  then  present  might  proceed  to  set  them  apart  for  the 
ministry ;  that,  however,  in  a  very  early  period  a  distinction  had  been  made, 
had  been  kept  up  by  the  Church  ever  since,  and  must  not  now  be  relin- 
quished ;  and  finally,  that  the  ordination  of  their  pastors  ought  to  be  such 
as  the  Calixtine  and  the  Roman  Catholics  would  be  compelled  to  acknowl- 
edge."    ("The  Moravian  Manual,"  pp.  lo,  ii.) 

Compare  Wesley's  strong  preference,  in  which  Asbury  and  the  American 
Conference  shared,  to  have  his  preachers  episcopally  ordained,  notwithstand- 
ing his  conviction  that  the  apostolic  succession  was  a  hopeless  "fable." 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         47^ 

Here,  then,  was  a  genuine  ''reformation  before  the  Reforma- 
tion." Naturally  enough,  therefore,  when  Luther  and  Calvin  ap- 
peared on  the  scene,  their  Bohemian  forerunners  were  brought 
into  friendly  intercourse  with  them/  And  notwithstanding  trou- 
bles, within  and  without,  the  Unity  of  the  Brethren  increased 
and  prospered.  Crossing  the  Bohemian  border,  it  planted  its 
churches  in  other  countries.  By  the  year  1557  it  embraced  a 
Province  in  Bohemia,  one  in  ^.loravia.  and  one  in  Poland,  each 
with  its  bishop  and  synod,  and  all  three  Provinces  united  in  gen- 
eral synodical  meetings.  Later  it  gained  legal  standing — an  ac- 
knowledged and  influential  Church,  with  theological  schools  and 
literature,  and  with  many  noble  families  in  its  membership. 

This  was  the  "Ancient  Church,"  But  its  ecclesiastic  enemies 
well-nigh  swept  it  out  of  existence.  After  a  history  of  a  century 
and  three  quarters,  in  the  Anti-Reformation  under  Ferdinand  IL, 
the  Brethren,  who  meantime  had  become  involved — not  indeed  as 
a  church  but  in  the  person  of  some  of  their  most  prominent  and 
politically  influential  members — in  a  political  revolution,  were 
broken  up  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia  by  the  most  ])itiless  oppres- 
sion. In  Poland  they  maintained  themselves  a  little  longer,  but 
gradually  united  with  the  Reformed  Church.  The  Peace  of  West- 
phalia (1648),  which  ended  the  Thirty  Years'  War  and  placed 
the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches  on  the  same  legal  footing 
as  the  Church  of  Rome,  did  not  include  the  Brethren  in  its  pro- 
visions. So  their  multiplied  calamities  were  greater  than  they 
could  bear ;  and  before  the  seventeenth  century  drew  to  a  close, 
as  an  organization  they  had  ceased  to  be. 

But  now  came  the  period  of  the  "Hidden  Seed."  For  half 
a  century  the  evangelic  faith  of  the  Bohemian  fathers  lived  on, 
here  and  there,  in  secret  places ;  and  there  were  witnesses  of 
Christ  that  could  not  be  corrupted'  nor  utterly  suppressed.     More- 

^"At  the  beginning  of  Luther's  Reformation  they  numbered  about  four 
hundred  parishes  and  two  hundred  thousand  members,  were  using  their  own 
Hymnal  and  Catechism,  and  employing  two  printing  presses  for  the  spread 
of  evangelical  literature."  (SchafF-Hcrzog  Encyclopedia,  Art.  '"Moravian 
Church.") 


47^  Christianity  as  Organised 

over,  there  were  prophetic  spirits  who  looked  forward  to  a  bet- 
ter time,  watchers  for  the  morning  when  the  Lord  would  restore 
to  his  suffering  people  their  place  and  mission  in  the  world.  Most 
eminent  of  these  was  the  aged  Bishop  John  Amos  Comenius, 
who  revised  and  pnl)lished  the  book  of  discipline  (  Ratio  Disci- 
plinae)  for  the  use  of  the  resuscitated  Church  that  was  to  be.' 

The  chief  agents  in  the  resuscitation  of  the  Unity  of  the  Breth- 
ren were  a  count  and  a  carpenter.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  young  Count  Zinzendorf,  on  his  estate 
of  Berthelsdorf  in  Saxony,  had  solemnly  covenanted  to  devote 
himself  and  all  that  he  possessed  to  the  work  of  the  Lord.  Not 
far  distant  lived  Christian  David,  by  trade  a  carpenter,  by  pro- 
fession a  member  of  the  Brethren,  and  by  indubitable  divine  vo- 
cation an  itinerant  evangelist.  On  an  evangelistic  journey  in 
Moravia,  Christian  David  met  with  certain  descendants  of  the 
Brethren  who  were  desirous  to  find  a  home  where  they  might 
enjoy  the  religious  liberty  which  was  denied  them  in  their  own 
land.  Through  information  given  by  him,  the  Count  learned 
about  these  faithful  BTethren,  and  offered  them  an  asylum  on 
his  estate.  "Let  as  many  of  your  friends  as  will  come  hither," 
he  said  to  Christian  David;  'T  will  give  them  land  to  build  on, 
and  Christ  will  give  them  the  rest,"  Here,  accordingly,  they 
built  the  village  of  Herrnhut  (in  1722-29),  which  is  even  yet  the 
ecclesiastical  center  of  the  renewed  Unity  of  the  Brethren — or, 
as  the  LInity  is  more  familiarly  called,  the  Moravian  Church.'' 

The  little  Church  settlement  prospered.  German  Pietists  were 
attracted  to  it  and  received  as  members  of  the  community.  In 
five  years  there  was  a  population  of  about  three  hundred.     The 

^"While  Comenius  cared  for  the  Brethren  of  the  present,  he  kept  in  view 
the  Church  of  the  future  also.  That  such  a  church  would  appear,  either  in 
the  homes  of  his  fathers,  or  in  a  strange  land,  he  confidently  hoped ;  and  in 
order  to  prepare  for  its  coming  published  several  works  which  were  to  pre- 
serve the  doctrines,  ritual,  and  constitution  of  the  ancient  Unity."  (De 
Schweinitz,  "History  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,"  p.  601.) 

°The  name  "Moravian  Church"  originated  in  the  fact  that  the  first  comers 
to  Zinzendorf's  estate  and  most  of  those  who  came  afterwards — in  a  word, 
the  builders  of  Herrnhut — were  from  Moravia. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         473 

Ratio  Discipline,  adopted  by  a  synod  of  the  Brethren  a  hundred 
years  before  and  revised  by  Comenius,  was  accepted  as  their 
book  of  government  and  discipHne ;  the  liturgy  of  their  fathers 
was  retained ;  and  bishops  of  the  renewed  Church  were  conse- 
crated by  two  bishops  of  the  old  episcopal  succession,  which  had 
been  perpetuated  during  the  whole  time  of  the  Hidden  Seed. 
Their  first  bishop  was  David  Nitschman.  The  next  was  Zinzen- 
dorf  himself ;  and  on  him  the  supreme  government  of  the  Church 
rested  till  his  death,  in  1760.  Other  bishops  were  elected  as  his 
assistants — Peter  Bohler,  for  example,  who  was  connected  so 
significantly  with  the  rise  of  Methodism' — and  synods  were  held 
which  were  practically  under  his  control.  After  his  death,  how- 
ever, the  synod  took  its  proper  place  as  the  governing  body  of 
the  Church ;  and  a  number  of  bishops  and  elders,  "The  Unity's 
Elders'  Conference,"  were  elected  as  a  board  of  administration. 

Zinzendorf's  idea  was  that  of  "exclusive"  church  settlements. 
The  State  Churches,  whether  the  Evangelical  Lutheran,  in  which 
he  himself  had  been  reared,  or  the  Reformed,  must  not  be  dis- 
turbed. Nevertheless  they  included  in  their  membership  a  great 
many  worldly  people.  Would  it  not  be  well,  therefore,  if  at 
various  points  within  their  territory  thoroughly  evangelical  com- 
munities might  be  established,  under  strict  discipline,  and  kept 
apart  from  the  secular  and  ungodly  world  round  about  them? 
For  thus  might  the  spiritually  minded  cultivate  their  own  spir- 
itual life,  and  at  the  same  time  send  out  evangelistic  messen- 
gers, as  witnesses  of  experimental  Christianity,  in  the  communi- 
ties of  the  State  Churches. 

Let  no  person  not  of  this  evangelical  and  disciplined  body  be 
permitted  to  hold  property  in  their  villages.  Let  all  material  as 
well  as  spiritual  pursuits  and  affairs  be  brought  under  ecclesi- 
astical control.  Here  let  the  lamp  of  truth  be  kept  brightly 
burning  for  all  who  might  come  to  rejoice  in  its  light ;  and  from 
hence,  with  torches  kindled  in  its  flame,  let  its  missionaries  go 
forth.     And  so  they  did,  not  only  among  the  churches,  but  afar 

^Snell,  "Wesley  and  Methodism,"  pp.  52,  53. 


474  Christianity  as  Organised 

among  the  heathen  in  the  darkest  and  most  wretched  places  of 
the  earth. 

Very  attractive  to  the  harassed  soul  is  the  thought  of  "sanc- 
tuar^^"  Amid  the  incessant  evils  and  antagonisms  of  the  world, 
who  has  not  felt  its  charm?  One  need  not  be  as  sad  and  sus- 
ceptive as  Cowper  to  dream  of  a  happy  seclusion  in  "some  bound- 
less contiguity  of  shade." 

Lo.  then  would  I  wander  far  off, 
.  I  would  lodge  in  the  wilderness, 
I  would  haste  me  to  a  shelter 
From  the  stormy  wind  and  tempest.^ 

So,  sure  enough,  the  monastery  rises  in  the  wilderness,  and 
opens  its  door  invitingly.  So  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Puritan  fa- 
thers in  New  England  said :  Wo.  have  come  to  this  far  land  for 
freedom  and  peace,  and  none  but  such  as  are  like-minded  shall 
dwell  among  us.  So  have  socialist  dreamers,  out  of  heart  with 
the  imperfect  organization  and  ideals  of  human  society  as  it  is, 
banded  together  to  make  the  experiment  of  communistic  colo- 
nies— Brook  Farms,  Harmonists,  Amana  Societies,  and  the  like. 
So  the  peace-loving  Ouietist  is  prone,  however  unintentionally, 
to  form  the  anti-social  habit  and  walk  his  little  round  of  life 
alone.  So  the  devout  and  dreamy  ecclesiastic  lives  in  retreat, 
among  his  books,  in  his  oratory,  friendly  perhaps  with  just  a  few 
congenial  fellows,  and  goes  forth  for  brief  ministrations  only 
to  get  back  to  retirement  as  soon  as  conscience  will  consent.  So 
it  would  seem  to  many  a  sensitive  Christian  mind  that  it  were  a 
very  heaven  on  earth  to  live  in  a  communit)'  of  Christians  only, 
every  house  a  house  of  prayer,  every  neighbor  a  brother  of  like 
faith  and  experience."  Such  as  this  were  to  be  the  Moravian  vil- 
lages— and  not  on  the  Continent  only,  but  also  in  England  and 
America. 

^Psa.  Iv.  7,  8. 

^"I  would  gladly  have  spent  my  life  here  in  Herrnhut;  but  my  Master 
calling  me  to  labor  in  another  part  of  his  vineyard,  on  Monday,  14,  I  was 
constrained  to  take  my  leave  of  this  happy  place ;  Martin  Dober  and  a  few 
others  of  the  brethren  walking  with  us  about  an  hour."  (Wesley's  Journal, 
August  12,  1738.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier         475 

But  such  are  not  the  normal  situation  and  surroundings  of 
Christ's  militant  Church.  Its  place  is  in  the  forefront  of  the 
hardest  battle  of  the  ages.  Xot  the  place  of  its  special  repre- 
sentatives only,  its  Twelves  or  its  Seventies,  but  its  own  place 
is  there.  Its  Paradise  Regained  will  not  be  found  "in  retreat." 
Its  "exclusive  settlement"  is  Armageddon. 

Meditation,  secret  prayer,  communion  with  God,  the  com- 
munion of  saints — these  indeed  are  ever  needful.  How  can  the 
Christian  life  be  lived  without  them?  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  life 
to  be  lived  among  men,  in  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood  and 
witness-bearing  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "I  pray  not  that 
thou  shouldest  take  them  from  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldest 
keep  them  from  the  evil  one."  ]\Iore  truly  Christian  in  its  idea 
than  any  safeguarded  church  village  is  the  "church  settlement" 
of  the  modern  city. 

Let  me  live  in  a  house  by  the  side  of  the  road, 
Where  men  good  and  bad  pass  by. 

Shall  we  think,  then,  of  Zinzendorf's  method  as  unpractical? 
Does  it  go  aside  from  the  New  Testament  method  by  putting 
the  leaven  too  little  in  contact  with  the  meal?  If  not,  some  other 
reason  or  reasons  must  account  for  the  fact  that  the  fair  and 
noble  ^vloravian  Church  presents  to-day  the  singular  picture  of 
a  church  with  more  than  fifty-two  thousand  communicants  in 
mission  fields  and  fewer  than  half  that  number  at  home. 

Indeed,  another  reason  has  been  offered — namely,  the  lack  of 
a  distinct  effort,  through  Zinzendorf's  influence  and  leadership, 
to  build  up  a  separate  denomination,  till  the  field,  especially  in 
America,  had  been  preoccupied  by  other  e^'angelic  churches. 
But  side  by  side,  at  least,  with  this  explanation  of  meager  growth, 
must  be  noted  the  mistake  of  the  "exclusive  settlement." 

This  Church,  therefore,  is  of  relative  present  importance  chief- 
ly because  of  its  unparalleled  missionary  activity,  and  its  long, 
eventful  history.  It  may  be  recognized  as  the  oldest  episcopal 
Protestant  Church  in  the  world.  It  traces  its  bishops  back  in 
an  apparentlv  unbroken  line  through  the  period  of  the  Renewed 


476  Christianity  as  Organized 

Church,  that  of  the  Hidden  Seed,  and  that  of  the  Ancient  Church, 
to  the  ordination  of  Matthias  of  Kunwald  in  the  year  1467.' 

4.  Earlier  and  Later  Moravian  Episcopal  Functions. 

The  Moravian  episcopate,  during  the  period  of  the  Ancient 
Church,  and  more  especially  during  Zinzendorf's  time,  was  a 
strong  administrative  office.  Since  then  its  only  peculiar  func- 
tion seems  to  have  been  that  of  ordaining  to  the  ministry.  Bish- 
ops, however,  in  virtue  of  their  office,  have  special  privileges  of 
membership  in  the  governing  bodies/ 

The  home  territory  of  the  Church  is  divided  at  the  present  time  into  four 
Provinces — namely,  the  Continental  Province,  the  British  Province,  the  Amer- 
ican Province,  North,  and  the  American  Province,  South. 

There  is  a  General  Synod,  which  meets  normally  every  ten  years.  Other 
governing  bodies  are  the  Provincial  Synod,  the  District  Synod,  and  a  Mis- 
sion Board  to  which  is  committed  the  supreme  administration  for  missions 
among  the  heathen.  The  executive  officers  of  the  General  Synod  are  the 
Unity's  Elders'  Conference;  and  of  the  Provincial  Synod,  the  Provincial 
Elders'  Conference.  Bishops  of  Mission  Provinces  are  elected  by  the  Gen- 
eral Synod ;  of  the  Home  Provinces,  by  the  Provincial  Synods. 

The  ministry  exists  in  the  three  orders  of  Bishops,  Elders,  and  Deacons. 
The  Deacons  are  authorized  to  administer  both  the  sacraments ;  and  they 
are  promoted  to  the  presbyterate  when  appointed  to  take  charge  of  a  con- 
gregation or  of  some  particular  department  of  church  work.     Brethren  in- 


^"The  claim  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  to  a  valid  episcopacy  is  important  as 
a  historic  and  not  as  an  essential  question.  It  is  not  based  upon  the  idea  that 
episcopal  ordination  is  alone  legitimate.  The  Church  still  occupies  the  cath- 
olic standpoint  of  flie  fathers,  upholding  fellowship  with  evangelical  Chris- 
tians of  every  name ;  the  prayer  which  was  fervently  uttered,  four  and  a 
quarter  centuries  ago,  amidst  the  mountains  or  Reicheneau  and  in  the  hamlet 
of  Lhota,  is  still  repeated :  'Unite  all  the  children  of  God  in  one  spirit.'  " 
(De  Schweinitz,  "History  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,"  p.  152.) 

^"Their  [the  Moravian  bishops']  office  carries  with  it  no  ruling  power  in 
the  Church.  Their  special  function  is  ordination  of  ministers.  Their  office, 
moreover,  is  defined  to  be  'in  a  peculiar  sense  that  of  intercessors  in  the 
Church  of  God.'  ...  It  [the  Moravian  polity]  has  allowed  the  Church 
to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  conferential  form  of  government,  giving  marked 
preference  to  the  Headship  of  Jesus  Christ  over  the  Church  in  all  its  pro- 
ceedings; it  has  enabled  it  to  recognize  the  validity  of  Presbyterian  ordina- 
tion." (Prof.  W.  N.  Schwarze,  "The  Moravian  Church  and  the  Proposals 
of  the  Lambeth  Conference,"  in  the  Church  Quarterly  Review  (London), 
October,   1909.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Earlier  477 

trusted   with  the   direction   of  finances   may  also  be  ordained   to  their   office 
as  Deacons — "after  the  Apostolic  example." 

In  the  forms  of  worship  the  golden  mean  between  uniformity  and  spon- 
taneity has  been  most  excellently  observed.  The  ritual  is  comparatively  brief. 
Much  liberty  is  given  for  extemporaneous  prayer.  Prayer  meetings  and  love 
feasts  are  held.  And  this  church  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  of  all 
the  Christian  churches  to  put  a  hymn  book  into  the  hands  of  its  congrega- 
tions— its  first  hymnal,  edited  by  Bishop  Luke  and  composed  of  both  original 
hymns  and  translations  from  the  Latin,  bearing  date  of  the  year  1505.' 

^The  Moravian  Manual. 


VI. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  IDEA:  SCRIPTURAL,  EXPEDIENT 
—LATER  FORMS. 

When,  in  the  year  1739,  a  few  persons  in  the  city  of  London 
came  to  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England  and  fellow  of 
Oxford  University  for  spiritual  guidance,  the  man  whose  help 
they  sought  was  not  only  an  earnest  Christian  teacher  but  also 
a  singularly  gifted  organizer.  Not  inappropriately  did  he,  to- 
gether with  his  comrades  in  the  first  little  brotherhood  of  which 
he  became  the  acknowledged  leader — though  he  was  not  its  orig- 
inator— bear  the  nickname  of  Methodist.  It  was  preeminently 
his  gift  from  God  to  plan,  to  systemize,  to  organize,  to  rule,  to 
take  the  lead  in  the  administration  of  governmental  affairs.  Said 
his  friend  and  colaborer,  George  Whitefield :  "I  should  but  wea\'e 
a  Penelope's  web,  if  I  formed  societies."  Not  so  Wesley:  he  was 
no  less  a  former  of  societies  than  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  If 
ever  a  man  was  given  to  organizing  Christianity,  his  own  and 
others',  it  was  this  man.  And  his  web  has  not  yet  been  un- 
woven. 

Accordingly,  in  the  case  of  these  humble  religious  inquirers 
in  London,  a  result  followed  of  which  neither  they  nor  their 
chosen  spiritual  guide  could  have  had  the  slightest  prevision. 
He  made  an  arrangement  to  meet  them  regularly  at  a  certain 
time  and  place  for  prayer  and  counsel ;  and  this  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  various  organizations  of  the  Methodism  of  to-day. 

Nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any  good  reason  to  believe  that 
these  Christian  organizations,  with  their  millions  of  members 
and  their  world-wide  work,  would  ever  have  come  into  existence 
but  for  the  life  of  this  one  man.  Had  the  overlooked  six-year- 
old  boy  perished  in  the  flames  of  the  Epworth  rectory  in  1709. 
there  might  well  have  been  an  Evangelical  Revival  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  but  that  form  of  Christianity  known  as 
Methodism  would  not  have  been. 
(478) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  479 

It  is  true  that,  under  the  directive  and  enabhng  hand  of  God, 
the  progress  of  the  world  is  chiefly  through  the  spirit  of  an  age. 
The  advance  is  made  through  ideas,  convictions,  aspirations,  and 
endeavors  that  are  someliovv  shared  by  many  men  in  many  cir- 
cumstances and  positions.  It  is  a  slow,  evolutionary  though  at 
the  same  time  personal  process.  The  creative  forces  come  into 
ascendency  through  insensible  increments  from  numberless 
sources  and  periods  of  time.  The  individuals  in  whom  they  ap- 
pear most  conspicuously  are  not  so  much  their  originators  as 
their  products  and  representatives.  Therefore  it  is  not  difficult 
to  imagine,  for  example,  that  Christianity  would  have  become 
the  religion  of  the  Roman  empire  under  some  later  emperor,  if 
Constantine  had  not  espoused  its  cause;  that  there  would  have 
been  an  evangelical  reformation,  if  Martin  Luther  had  never 
lived ;  that  America  would  have  been  discovered,  if  Columbus 
had  suffered  shipwreck  on  his  first  voyage ;  that  the  American 
Colonies  would  have  won  their  independence,  if  George  Wash- 
ington had  fallen  in  the  battle  of  the  Monongahela;  that  the 
printing  press  and  the  telephone  would  have  been  invented,  if 
Gutenberg's  and  both  Bell's  and  Edison's  experiments  had  proved 
failures.  These  men  were  indeed  opulent  and  original  forces 
in  human  affairs ;  but  there  are  men  who  were  more  distinctly 
personal  in  their  achievements — men  without  whom,  so  far  as 
we  can  judge,  the  great  movements  for  which  their  names  stand 
would  never  have  taken  place.  Such  a  man  in  the  history  of  re- 
ligion was  Mahomet ;  such  a  one  in  political  history  was  Charle- 
magne: and  such  a  one  in  modern  Christian  organization  was 
John  Wesley. 

I.  Origin  of  Institutes  of  Methodism. 

Through  the  labors  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  the  itinerancy 
as  a  method  of  an  evangelistic  ministry  received  an  unprecedent- 
ed development.^     For  Methodism,  we  have  to  remember,  was 

'One  hardly  needs  to  be  reminded  that  an  itinerant  ministry  was  no 
really  new  thing  at  this  time.  Sundry  more  or  less  significant  examples  of 
it   may   be   noted ;    such   as,   in   the   first  years   of   Christianity,   that   of   the 


480  Christianity  as  Organised 

aggressive,  and  the  itinerancy  is  distinctively  a  policy  of  aggres- 
sion. English  Christianity  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  on 
the  defensive;  and  ^^'esley's  plan  of  defense — so  far  as  he  had 
any — was  that  of  a  well-planned  and  untiring  attack.  Great 
was  the  success  of  it.  Converts  were  won  and  societies  gath- 
ered throughout  the  land.  In  the  fellowship  of  these  societies 
preaching  gifts  appeared:  impulse  of  utterance  took  the  form  of 
exhortation  and  the  pungent  application  of  the  gospel — in  such 
men  as  John  Nelson  and  various  others.  Wesley,  after  some 
hesitation,  getting  the  better  of  early  prejudices  and  rigid  church- 
manship,  gave  his  sanction  to  the  lay  preachers  and  undertook 
the  direction  of  their  labors.  Like  him,  they  must  be  itinerants, 
going  to  and  fro  from  congregation  to  congregation,  from  neigh- 
borhood to  neighborhood,  from  circuit  to  circuit. 

But  after  conquest  comes  culture.  It  has  been  said :  "The 
sword  may  conquer  lands,  but  it  is  the  plow  that  retains  them." 
In  the  metaphor  of  the  apostle  Paul,  the  Christian  people  are 
"God's  tilled  field.'"  The  evangelist,  wielding  the  word  of  God 
as  a  sword,  may  win  them :  but  it  is  only  through  continuous 
and  careful  spiritual  husbandry  that  they  can  be  held  and  made 
rich  in  "fruit  unto  holiness."  How,  then,  could  such  a  result  as 
this  be  reached  under  the  Wesleyan  system  of  evangelism? 
Partly  through  what  pastoral  preaching  and  spiritual  care  the 
traveling  evangelist  was  able  to  give ;  but  chiefly  through  the 
development  of  a  new  class  of  caretakers.  Men  originally  ap- 
pointed in  the  local  societies  to  collect  the  weekly  dues  were  also 
made  soon  afterwards  spiritual  overseers.  They  became  the  real 
pastors  of  the  people — each  with  a  very  little  flock  which  he 
could  watch  over  and  care  for  individually. 

Was  it  well  that  plain,  unschooled  men  should  be  thus  intrust- 

Apostles  and  their  fellow-preachers,  and  of  the  "apostles,"  "prophets,"  and 
"teachers"  of  the  sub-apostolic  age;  in  the  Middle  Ages,  that  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  monks  who  were  sent  out  by  the  bishop  from  the  monasteries  in 
which  they  had  their  training  and  their  home  (Southey.  "Life  of  Wesley," 
I.  262),  and  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  brothers;  in  later  times,  Wyclifs 
"poor  priests." 

'i  Cor.  iii.  9.  margin. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  481 

ed  with  the  spiritual  care  of  other  plain,  unschooled  men?  Be- 
fore making  answer  let  us  remember  that  the  young  Sunday- 
school  teacher  may  more  readily  succeed  than  the  better  instruct- 
ed older  one  in  winning  the  attention  and  the  heart  of  the  young; 
that  the  native  Christian  worker  may  gain  a  hold  upon  men  of 
his  OAvn  race  and  former  faith  such  as  would  be  impossible  to  the 
foreign  missionary;  in  a  word,  that  the  most  welcome  human 
help  is  often  not  that  which  is  sent  from  afar,  or  that  which  is 
somehow  dropped  down  from  a  height,  but  that  which  is  given 
by  a  brother  walking  with  us  in  our  own  ways  of  everyday  life. 

So  the  numerous  Methodist  under-shepherds  were  appointed; 
and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  class-meeting. 

During  the  first  half  century  of  their  existence,  the  Methodist 
societies  of  Great  Britain  knew  but  a  single  ruler.  All  offices, 
rules,  and  regulations  were  of  Wesley's  own  institution.  In  him 
rested  the  power  to  admit  into  membership  in  the  societies  and 
to  exclude  therefrom;  to  appoint  and  remove  stewards;  to  re- 
ceive preachers  and  to  appoint  them  to  their  circuits  or  dispense 
with  their  assistance.  Briefly,  in  him  personally  was  to  be  found 
all  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  authority.  His  visitations 
and  oversight  of  the  societies  were  an  almost  incredible  example 
of  faithful,  untiring  activity.  And  this  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Methodist  episcopacy. 

A  few  clergymen  of  the  English  Church  sympathized  with 
Wesley  from  the  outset  in  his  evangelistic  undertakings,  and 
rendered  him  more  or  less  assistance.  In  the  year  1744  he  in- 
vited some  of  these  and  some  of  his  own  lay  preachers  to  meet 
him  in  consultation  about  the  work  in  which  they  were  so 
deeply  interested.  In  all,  there  were  six  clergymen  and  four  lay 
preachers  who  thus  met  together.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Methodist  Conference. 

Such  a  meeting  of  preachers  was  held  annually  from  that 
time  forth.  And  it  was  literally  and  solely  a  conference.  Ques- 
tions were  proposed  by  Wesley  as  president,  and  a  free  inter- 
change of  views  asked  for;  but  there  was  no  voting.  As  the 
abbot  of  a  Benedictine  monastery — if  one  may  go  so  far  afield 
31 


482  Christianity  as  Organised 

to  find  an  analogue — must  call  a  council  of  the  monks  for  con- 
sultation on  all  important  matters  of  business,  and  then  take 
upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  the  decision,  so  the  Chair  in  a 
Methodist  Conference,  wishing  to  be  advised,  not  governed,  de- 
cided every  question  on  his  own  responsibility.  Consciously  or 
unconsciously,  the  military  idea  dominated  Wesley's  administra- 
tive thought.  He  was  commander  of  an  evangelic  army :  the 
conference  was  simply  his  council  of  war.  He  continued  to  ap- 
point the  preachers  to  their  fields  of  labor  and  to  remove  them 
from  place  to  place,  as  seemed  expedient.  The  chapels  which 
began  to  be  built  were  deeded  to  him  as  a  lifetime  trust.  All 
things  were  in  the  hands  of  the  peerless  providential  Leader, 
under  whose  direction  the  movement  began,  and  whose  absolute 
authority  was  resigned  only  on  the  bed  of  death. 

What  then?  A  self -perpetuating  legal  conference — the  "Legal 
Hundred" — which  should  succeed  to  the  trusteeship  of  the  So- 
ciety's property,  and  as  far  as  possible  take  the  place  of  the  de- 
parted patriarchal  ruler,  had  already  been  provided  for.  This 
Conference  came  at  once  into  power ;  and  it  has  been  the  gov- 
erning body  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  unto  the  present  time. 

2.  Growth  of  Methodist  Organization. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  during  Wesley's  lifetime  the 
Methodist  societies,  or,  as  they  were  called  collectively,  the  Unit- 
ed Society,  were  not  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  a  church. 
They  were  rather,  like  the  early  Moravians,  a  religious  guild  or 
fraternity  of  Christian  men  and  women  banded  together  for 
mutual  watch-care  and  encouragement  in  working  out  their  sal- 
vation. It  was  their  purpose  and  rule  to  observe  the  ordinances 
and  as  far  as  possible  with  a  good  conscience  to  obey  the  canons 
of  their  national  Church.  Wesley  strenuously  resisted  the  idea 
of  their  separation  from  it,  because  it  might  both  serve  them 
and  be  served  by  them.  For  the  most  part  contemned  by  its 
authorities,  they  were,  nevertheless,  a  body  of  life-bearers  which 
it  greatly   needed.     For  the   Church    of   England   in  that   age 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  483 

seemed  unable  to  find  any  better  motto   for  its  own  activities 
than  No  enthusiasm.     It  had  grown  strangely  inert. 

Let  us  alone.    What  pleasure  can  we  have 
To  war  with  evil  ?     Is  there  any  peace 
In  ever  climbing  up  the  climbing  wave? 

It  was  Wesley's  aim,  accordingly,  to  vitalize  and  strengthen 
the  existing  Establishment,  to  call  it  forth  into  the  thick  of  the 
"war  with  evil,"  and  not  to  form  a  new  church.  Hence  he  habit- 
ually spoke  of  his  followers  as  "the  people  called  Methodists" — 
simply  a  "people"  and  simply  "so-called"  Methodists. 

But  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  after  making  provision  for 
an  independent  and  fully  equipped  Church  in  America,  he  did 
set  apart  several  of  liis  preachers  in  Scotland  and  England  to  the 
ofifice  of  presbyter,  for  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and 
one,  Alexander  Mather,  to  the  higher  office  of  superintendent. 
It  would  seem  that  by  this  time  he  saw  the  inevitableness  of  a 
separation  from  the  Church  of  England,  and  did  what  he  could 
in  the  most  appropriate  and  orderly  manner — though  inconsist- 
ently with  his  membership  and  office  of  presbyter  in  that  Church 
— ^to  provide  for  the  administration  of  the  sacramental  ordi- 
nances in  the  prospective  Church  of  the  Methodists. 

If,  however,  this  be  the  correct  interpretation  of  Wesley's 
course  of  action,  the  Conference  after  his  death  did  not  fully 
carry  out  his  design.  It  did  authorize  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments  in  such  societies  as  voted,  through  their  stewards, 
class  leaders,  and  trustees  of  chapels,  to  have  them.  And  by  this 
act  it  broke  the  connection  between  the  members  of  these  socie- 
ties and  the  Established  Church,  to  which  most  of  them,  if  in 
any  proper  sense  church  members,  belonged.  Thus  the  whole 
United  Society  became,  in  the  course  of  about  twenty  years,  a 
fully  constituted  church ;  for  it  was  already  "a  congregation  of 
faithful  men,  in  the  which  the  pure  word  of  God  was  preached," 
and  it  now  had  also  "the  sacraments  duly  administered  accord- 
ing to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all  those  things  that  are  of  necessity 
requisite  to  the  same."     But  tv,^enty  years  more  passed  before 


484  Christianity  as  Orgaiii::ed 

(in  1836)  it  ordained  its  ministers  by  the  imposition  of  hands. 
And  as  to  the  Superintendency,  it  never  gave  any  recognition  to 
such  an  office. 

The  government  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  the  par- 
ent body  of  EngHsh  Methodism  (the  other  bodies  need  not  here 
be  considered),  has  become  an  elaborate  and  well-compacted  sys- 
tem. Not  classifiable  under  any  one  of  the  three  generally  rec- 
ognized types  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  it  shows  a  real  affinity  with 
both  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Episcopal.  As  to  ministerial  or- 
ders, it  is  wholly  Presbyterian.  But  it  also  includes,  in  its  Presi- 
dent of  the  Conference,  in  its  Superintendent  of  the  Circuit,  and 
especially  in  its  Chairman  of  the  District,  some  genuine  features 
of  the  episcopate. 

The  Conference  (or  Legal  Conference,  or  Legal  Hundred),  which  is  the 
one  legislative  body  and  the  supreme  court,  meets  annually.  When  vacancies 
occur  in  its  membership,  they  are  filled,  partly  by  seniority  and  partly  by 
election,  from  the  whole  body  of  ministers.  But  the  Conference,  in  what  is 
called  its  Pastoral  Session,  associates  with  itself  certain  other  ministers,  who 
are  appointed  by  the  District  Synods ;  and  it  is  in  this  Pastoral  Session  that 
men  are  nominated  to  fill  the  vacancies — the  nominations  being  confirmed  by 
the  Conference  itself. 

There  is  also  the  Mixed  Session,  in  which  the  Conference  sits  with  a 
number  of  other  ministers  and  an  equal  number  of  laymen — all  appointed 
by  the  District  Synods. 

The  duration  of  a  Conference  Session  is  limited  to  three  week — the  first 
week  being  given  to  the  Pastoral  Session,  and  the  remainder  of  the  time 
to  the  Mixed  Session.  Business  pertaining  more  particularly  to  the  office  of 
the  ministry — such  as  ordinations,  the  division  of  circuits,  and  the  stationing 
of  ministers — is  transacted  in  the  Pastoral  Session ;  business  of  a  more 
general  character — such  as  home  and  foreign  missions,  chapel  funds,  educa- 
tion, temperance — in  the  Mixed  Session. 

The  Conference  sits  only  in  either  the  Pastoral  or  the  Mixed  Session — 
never  alone.  But  no  action  is  valid  unless  approved  by  the  Conference  it- 
self.^ 

^It  would  seem  indeed  that  according  to  the  present  practice  the  Confer- 
ence does  very  little  legislation  of  any  kind  except  at  the  suggestion  or  in 
ratification  of  the  action  of  the  Pastoral  or  the  Mixed  Session.  "It  exercises 
no  independent  power.  It  is  practically  a  mere  registering  machine,  the  in- 
strument by  which  the  decisions  of  the  Conference  as  a  whole  [in  Pastoral 
or  Mixed  Session]  are  translated  into  legal  terms."  (Fitchett,  "Wesley  and 
His  Century,"  p.  399.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  485 

The  territory  of  the  Conference  is  divided  into  Districts,  over  each  of 
which  is  placed  an  administrative  body  known  as  the  District  Synod.  It  is 
composed  of  all  the  ministers  and  certain  lay  officers  of  the  District — the  lay- 
men considerably  exceeding  the  ministers  in  number.  It  meets  twice  a  year, 
and  its  principal  meeting,  which  is  in  the  month  of  May,  lasts  from  two  to 
five  days.  At  this  meeting  there  is  first  a  ministerial  session  in  which,  among 
many  other  items  of  business,  the  character  and  work  of  the  ministers  and 
Conference  probationers  of  the  District  pass  under  review,  candidates  for 
the  ministry  are  examined,  the  increase  or  decrease  in  church  membership  is 
noted,  and  reports  of  home  missions  are  received.  At  the  close  of  this  ses- 
sion there  is  a  joint  meeting  of  ministers  and  laymen  for  financial  business. 
The  other  semiannual  meeting  of  the  Synod  is  in  the  month  of  September, 
and  is  wholly  occupied  with  matters  of  finance. 

All  the  pastoral  charges  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  Circuits,  each  em- 
bracing several  societies,  or  churches — in  some  cases  the  number  reaching 
as  high  as  twent}'-five  or  thirty.  The  Circuit  has  its  Quarterly  Meeting, 
consisting  of  the  stewards,  the  class  leaders,  the  local  preachers  of  one  year's 
standing,  the  trustees  who  are  members  of  the  church  within  the  circuit, 
and  representatives  of  the  Sunday  schools.  It  is  presided  over  by  the  Super- 
intendent, or  minister  in  charge  of  the  circuit.  In  these  Quarterly  Meetings 
the  statistics  of  membership,  the  amount  of  money  paid  by  the  classes,  and 
the  amount  received  by  the  ministers  on  account  of  salary,  are  reported, 
and  the  whole  work  of  the  Circuit  is  considered.  The  Quarterly  Meetings 
of  many  Circuits  number  more  than  a  hundred  members — of  some  not  fewer 
than  two  hundred. 

Each  Society  has  one  or  two  Society  Stewards  and  one  or  two  Stewards 
for  the  Poor.  These,  together  with  the  Class  Leaders  and  certain  elected 
representatives  of  the  church  membership,  constitute  the  Leaders'  Meeting, 
which  is  the  pastor's  council.  Both  Stewards  and  Class  Leaders  are  nomi- 
nated by  the  Superintendent  and  elected  by  the  Leaders'  Meeting.  Besides 
the  Stewards  of  the  Societies  there  are  Circuit  Stewards,  whose  office  has 
reference  to  all  the  societies  of  the  circuit  collectively. 

The  President  of  the  Conference  is  nominated  in  the  Pastoral  Session 
and  elected  by  the  Conference.  His  office  is  for  one  year  only,  and  he  is 
not  eligible  to  reelection  within  a  period  of  eight  years.  He  is  intrusted  with 
authority  to  supply  any  vacancies  that  may  occur  in  pastoral  charges  in  the 
interval  of  the  Conference,  and  with  the  general  oversight  of  the  Church. 
He  also  conducts  the  service  of  ordination,  in  which,  together  with  certain 
other  ministers,  he  lays  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  candidate  for  orders. 

Chairmen  of  Districts  are  elected  by  the  Conference  in  its  Pastoral  Ses- 
sion. It  is  their  duty  to  convene  and  preside  over  District  Synods,  to  act 
as  chairmen  of  various  District  sub-committees,  and  under  certain  circum- 
stances to  visit  the  circuits.  The  District  Chairman  has  larger  powers  in 
his  sphere  than  are  vested  in  the  President.  He  is  to  be  "the  ear  and  the 
eye,  the  hand  and  the  mouthpiece  of  the  District  as  well  as  of  the  Confer- 
ence, in  dealing  with  preachers  and  people,  with  ministers  and  Circuits." 


486  Cliristiaiiify  as  Organized 

In  the  Superintendent  of  a  Circuit  is  vested  the  power  to  receive  persons 
into  membership,  and  to  exclude  from  membership ;  but  only  after  consulta- 
tion with  the  Leaders'  Meeting. 

Candidates  for  the  ministry  must  be  first  of  all  recommended  bj'  the 
Quarterlj'  Meeting  on  nomination  of  the  Superintendent.  They  are  then 
examined  by  the  District  Synod,  and  after  that  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Conference — the  "July  Committee,"  which  meets  annually  in  London 
and  Manchester.  Having  been  accepted  by  the  Conference,  the  candidate  is 
sent  to  a  theological  institution  for  a  three  years'  course  of  study — or,  if  the 
institution  be  full,  he  is  appointed  to  a  Circuit  as  a  preacher,  to  serve  till  a 
vacancy  shall  occur.  At  the  close  of  his  course  of  study  he  is  eligible  to 
reception  as  a  probationer  into  the  Conference.  The  period  of  probation  is 
four  )'-ears ;  but  the  last  of  the  three  years  in  the  theological  institution  may 
be  accepted  as  the  first  year  of  probation.  On  the  reception  of  the  proba- 
tioner into  full  membership  in  the  Conference  he  is  ordained  elder.  There 
is  no  diaconate. 

Local  preachers,  who  serve  without  the  slightest  pecuniary  compensation, 
are  numerous  and  active.^  They  have  their  places  on  the  plan  of  the  Cir- 
cuit, side  by  side  with  the  itinerant  preachers.  A  few  days  before  the  session 
of  the  Quarterly  Meeting  they  hold  a  meeting  of  their  own  for  Christian 
fellowship  and  consultation.  It  is  out  of  their  goodly  company  that  the 
ranks  of  the  itinerant  preachers  are  recruited. 

Pastoral  appointments  are  made  by  the  Stationing  Committee,  which  con- 
sists of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Conference,  one  representa- 
tive from  each  District,  and  some  other  members.  The  limit  of  the  pastoral 
term  is  three  years — a  limit  fixed  in  the  Charter  of  the  Legal  Hundred, 
which  can  be  changed  only  by  act  of  Parliament.  Three  years  also  must 
elapse  before  reappointment  to  the  same  charge. 

The  Stationing  Committee  has  a  meeting  a  week  or  ten  days  before  the 
session  of  the  Conference,  at  which  it  makes  out  a  complete  list  of  appoint- 
ments. These  are  printed  and  published  before  the  meeting  of  the  Confer- 
ence, and  are  also  read  to  the  Conference  twice,  being  all  this  while  subject 
to  revision.    Then  a  third  draft  is  made  and  read,  which  is  final. ^ 

3.  Other  Methodist  Episcopates. 

The  episcopal  idea  has  appeared,  in  similar  forms  to  those  of 
British  Methodism,  in  Canada,  the  United  States,  and  Japan, 

^'Tt  is  estimated  that  of  the  28,000  sermons  preached  in  the  Wesleyan 
pulpits  of  Great  Britain  every  Sunday  fully  20,000  of  them  are  preached  by 
18,000  lay  preachers.  There  is  no  complaint  there  of  a  scarcity  of  preachers 
when  the  laymen  go  forth  two  by  two  as  when  our  Lord  sent  out  other 
seventy  also."  (Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix.  Christian  Advocate  (Nashville), 
November,   1907.") 

*Williams,  "The  Constitution  v.vA  Polity  of  Wesleyan  Methodism." 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  487 

The  Methodist  Church  (of  Canada)  is  under  the  supervision 
of  one  or  more  Itinerant  General  Superintendents,  who  are  elect- 
ed by  the  General  Conference  for  a  term  of  eight  years,  and 
are  eligible  for  reelection.  The  General  Superintendents  "shall 
travel  at  large  throughout  the  Church,  and  shall  have  the  general 
oversight  of  all  Cluuxh  interests  and  institutions,  and  do  all  in 
their  power  to  forward  them,  and  render  such  service  as  the 
General  Conference  shall  direct."  They  preside  over  the  ses- 
sions of  the  General  Conference,  and  in  the  interval  between  its 
quadrennial  sessions,  act  in  various  matters,  in  its  name.^ 

In  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  episcopal  oversight  is  rep- 
resented by  the  Presidents  of  the  various  Annual  Conferences. 

The  President  is  elected  annually  by  the  Conference,  and  is 
eligible  for  fi^'e  successive  elections.  He  presides  at  the  sessions 
of  the  Conference,  and  during  the  interim  visits  the  pastoral 
charges,  presides  at  the  Quarterly  Conferences,  makes  changes 
with  the  consent  of  pastors  and  people  in  pastoral  appointments 
(these  having  been  made  by  the  .Vnnual  Conference),  provides 
for  the  administration  of  sacraments  where  necessary,  appoints 
missionaries,  oversees  the  work  of  the  pastors.^ 

The  Methodist  Church  of  Japan  (Nippon  Methodist  Kyok- 
wai)  dates  the  beginning  of  its  history,  as  an  autonomous  body, 
in  May-June,  1907.  Organized  by  a  conference  of  delegates 
from  the  Japan  Mission  Conferences  of  the  two  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Churches  of  the  United  States  and  the  Methodist  Church 
of  Canada,  it  has  chosen  forms  of  polity  similar  to  the  forms  of 
these  three  churches  in  America. 

The  government  of  the  Church  is  vested  in  a  quadrennial  Gen- 
eral Conference  composed  of  ecjual  numbers  of  ministers  and  lay- 
men, elected  by  the  ministerial  and  the  lay  members,  respectively, 
of  the  Annual  Conferences. 

There  is  a  General  Superintendent  (Kantoku),  elected  by  the 
General  Conference — which  has  power  to  elect  as  many  as  are 


^"The  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Church"   (1906),  pp.  50,  51. 
^"Constitution  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church"   (1908), 
pp.  28,  29,  120,  121. 


488  Christianity  as  Organised 

needed  from  time  to  time — and  intrusted  with  the  same  func- 
tions, though  in  a  somewhat  modified  form,  as  those  of  the  gen- 
eral overseers  in  American  Methodism.  His  term  of  office  is 
eight  years,  and  he  is  ehgible  for  reelection. 

The  territory  of  the  Church  is  divided  into  Annual  Confer- 
ences and  these  into  Districts.  The  Districts  are  under  the  over- 
sight of  Presiding  Elders  (Bucho). 

The  Presiding  Elders  of  each  Annual  Conference  are  nomi- 
nated— by  ballot  and  without  debate — ^by  the  Conference,  and 
appointed  by  the  Kantoku.  They  may  be  reappointed  for  four 
successiA^e  years ;  and  after  four  j^ears  of  service  in  some  other 
position  are  eligible  again  for  nomination  and  election  as  Pre- 
siding Elders. 

The  Kantoku  also  appoints  the  preachers  to  their  pastoral 
charges  and  fixes  the  boundaries  of  the  Districts ;  but  in  both 
cases  only  after  consultation  with  the  Presiding  Elders. 

The  ideal  of  this  little  pioneer  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  in  Japan 
is  shown  in  the  closing  sentence  of  the  Historical  Statement  pre- 
fixed to  its  book  of  Discipline:  "The  sole  object  of  the  rules,  reg- 
ulations, and  usages  of  the  Nippon  Methodist  Kyokwai  is  that 
it  may  fulfill  to  the  end  of  time  its  divine  vocation,  as  a  leader 
in  evangelization,  in  all  moral  and  religious  reforms,  and  in 
the  promotion  of  fraternal  relations  among  all  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ."^ 

And  the  aAvakened  Island  Empire  shall  wait  for  His  law. 

4.  Episcopacy  through  Evangelism. 

Evangelism  may  easily  prove  to  be  incipient  episcopacy.  The 
Christian  preacher,  going  forth  with  the  word  of  salvation  to 
various  communities,  will  not  soon  forget  those  who  are  led  to 
Christ  under  his  ministry;  and  especially  where,  as  in  a  mission 
field,  new  congregations  have  been  gathered.  It  will  be  in  his 
heart  to  visit  them  again,  to  keep  in  communication  with  them, 
to  send  them  such  help  and  such  helpers  as  may  be  available.     So 

^"The  Doctrines  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Japan,  1907;" 
"Journal  of  the  First  General  Conference  of  the  Japan  Methodist  Church." 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  489 

the  apostle  becomes  a  chief  pastor.  "Let  us  return  now,"  says 
the  apostle  Paul  to  Barnabas,  after  their  evangelizing  tour 
in  Asia  Minor,  "and  visit  the  brethren  in  every  city  wherein 
we  proclaimed  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  see  how  they  fare. 
.  .  .  And  he  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the 
churches.'" 

True,  it  was  to  local  church  officers  that  the  apostle  Peter  gave 
the  charge,  "Tend  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you;"^  but 
what  charge  had  been  given  to  Peter  himself,  who  was  to  be  an 
itinerant  witness-bearer  and  missioner,  and  not  a  local  church 
officer?  It  was  the  very  same,  and  immediately  from  the  Mas- 
ter's own  lips :  "Tend  my  sheep."'"'  Such  was  an  Apostle's  epis- 
copate. He  cared  for  the  souls  and  for  the  multiplying  congre- 
gations that  had  been  given  him.  Absent  or  present,  through 
pen  and  tongue,  he  would  continue  his  ministrations  to  them,  as 
God  gave  ability.  The  epistles  to  Timothy  and  to  Titus  have 
been  called  "pastoral ;"  but  in  a  different  and  deeper  sense  the 
apostolic  epistles  generally  are  pastoral  epistles.  They  are  the 
fatherly  and  authoritative  communications  of  a  Christian  pastor 
to  this  or  that  distant  flock. 

This  principle  of  episcopacy  through  evangelism  is  not  with- 
out its  modern  exemplifications.  Notably  illustrated  by  the 
Evangelical  Revival  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  Wesley's  re- 
lation to  the  United  Society,  it  found  a  similar,  though  less  con- 
spicuous, illustration  among  the  Germans  of  America  in  the  rise 
of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 

5.  Otterbein  and  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 

The  congregations  of  this  Christian  brotherhood  began  to 
gather,  chiefly  through  the  labors  and  influence  of  one  man, 
Philip  William  Otterbein,  during  the  latter  part  of  this  same 
century. 

Otterbein  came  to  America  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years  as 
a  missionary  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany.     For  the 

'Acts  XV.  36,  41.  ^i  Pet.  V.  2.  ^i  John  xxi.  i6. 


49^  Christianity  as  Organised 

last  thirty-nine  years  of  his  life  (1774-1813)  he  served  as  pastor 
of  what  was  practically  an  independent  congregation  ("The  Ger- 
man Evangelical  Reformed  Church")  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 
But  his  connection  with  the  Church  of  his  fathers  in  which  he 
had  been  born  and  reared  and  ordained  to  the  ministry  (and  of 
which  his  father,  his  grandfather,  and  five  of  his  brothers  were 
ministers)  was  never  broken. 

In  his  earlier  ministry,  while  a  pastor  in  Pennsylvania,  Otter- 
bein  was  led  into  a  clear  and  satisfying  knowledge  of  the  grace 
of  God  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  The  gospel  became  to  him, 
as  never  before,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  his  preach- 
ing a  personal  and  living  message.  He  felt  constrained  to 
declare  it,  not  to  his  own  congregation  only  but  wherever  he 
might  gain  a  hearing.  The  dearth  of  vital  religion  in  the 
churches,  and  the  needs  of  the  unevangelized  poor,  especially 
in  rural  communities,  offered  him  the  opportunity,  which 
seemed  to  impose  the  obligation,  of  special  evangelistic  under- 
takings.^ 

Meantime  Martin  Bohm,  a  Mennonite  preacher,  had  entered 
upon  a  similar  course  of  evangelism  among  the  uninstructed  and 
the  poor.  "We  are  brothers,"  exclaimed  Otterbein  on  his  first 
meeting  with  his  less  cultured  but  no  less  gifted  and  zealous 
Mennonite  brother.  Through  their  preaching  many  souls  were 
brought  into  the  experience  of  a  faith  and  joy  like  their  own. 
Other  preachers,  also,  who  seemed  to  be  called  of  God,  were 
raised  up  here  and  there. 

As  the  movement  went  on,  Otterbein  and  his  co-laborers  would 
meet  together  from  time  to  time  for  consultation  concerning  its 
significance  and  its  management.  This  was  the  initial  step  to- 
ward organization.     But  there  was  no  intention  as  yet  of  form- 

^"The  lack  of  ministers  was  very  great,  and  the  people  were  everywhere 
clamoring  for  religious  instruction.  ...  In  Maryland  it  was  deplorable, 
and  sometimes  seemed  to  be  hopeless.  The  only  practical  expedient  seemed 
to  be  to  enlist  the  laity  in  the  devotional  work  of  the  Church."  (Dubbs,  "His- 
tory of  the  Reformed  Church,  German"  (American  Church  History  Series), 
p.  309) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Scriptural — Later  491 

ing  a  new  ecclesiastical  body/  Indeed,  had  the  existing  churches 
made  provision  for  the  nurture  and  direction  of  this  new  life 
which  was  arising  in  various  parts  of  their  territory,  both  these 
older  churches  and  the  revivalists'  congregations  might  have  se- 
cured a  needed  benefit ;  and  separation  would  probably  have  been 
prevented.  But  no  such  fostering  official  care  was  offered  them. 
On  the  contrary,  they  were  set  at  naught,  and  left  to  their  own 
leaders." 

Of  the  general  apathy  of  the  churches  of  the  time  there  can 
be  no  doubt  whatever,  So,  in  the  present  instance,  there  was  the 
contact  of  a  religion  of  observances  or  of  indifference  with  a 
genuine,  if  sometimes  ill  regulated,  religious  enthusiasm — of 
snow  with  fire. 

When,  in  the  year  1800,  the  new  society  did  become  a  separate 
ecclesiastical  organization,  under  the  name  of  The  United  Breth- 
ren in  Christ,  it  was  a  most  logical  result  that  such  men  as  Ot- 
terbein  and  Bohm,  recognized  as  true  fathers  in  God,  should  be 
asked  to  continue  the  supervision  of  the  work  which  had  grown 
up  chiefly  under  their  hands.  Accordingly  an  episcopal  form  of 
government  was  adopted,  and  these  two  chief  evangelists  were 
elected  as  the  first  bishops  of  the  organized  evangelistic  Church.' 

*"Step  by  step,  and  without  any  purpose  on  his  part  to  form  a  new  and 
separate  religious  denomination,  Mr.  Otterbein  was  led  onward  in  a  course 
which,  under  the  shaping  hand  of  Providence,  ultimately  led  to  this  result. 
.  .  .  Like  Mr.  Wesley,  the  leader  of  the  movement  which  gave  Methodism 
to  the  world,  he  was  disposed  to  cling  to  his  mother  Church ;  and,  in  fact,  he 
never  did  formally  separate  himself,  nor  was  he  by  an}'  formal  action  of  the 
coetus  ever  separated  from  the  German  Reformed  Church."  (Berger,  "His- 
tory of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ"  (American  Church  Series),  p.  328.) 

""When  it  became  evident  that  a  life  which  was  foreign  to  the  Reformed 
Church  was  in  course  of  development,  many  ministers  and  churches  gradually 
withdrew  from  this  well-meant  evangelistic  movement."  (Dubbs,  "History 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  German"  (American  Church  History  Series),  p. 
.312.) 

'"Otterbein  and  Bohm  traveled  much,  visiting  various  charges,  and  direct- 
ing the  ministers  in  their  work,  sending  them  on  tours  to  different  places 
as  exigencies  demanded.  .  .  .  When  the  first  of  the  regular  succession 
of  Annual  Conferences  was  held,  that  of  1800,  these  men,  Otterbein  and 
Bohm,  were  accordingly  elected  and  fully  authorized  to  perform  in  an  official 


492  Christianity  as  Organised 

The  present  government  of  the  United  Brethren,  who  have  become  ahnost 
wholly  a  Church  of  English-speaking  people,  is  largely  democratic.  Even 
the  delegates,  both  ministerial  and  lay,  that  compose  the  General  Confer- 
ence, which  is  the  lawmaking  body  of  the  Church,  are  elected  by  the  people. 
Women  are  eligible  to  membership  in  this  body,  and  also  in  the  regular 
ministry  of  the  Church. 

The  ministry  exists  in  one  order  only — that  of  the  eldership.  Bishops 
are  chosen  by  the  General  Conference,  and  for  a  term  of  four  years,  subject 
to  indefinite  reelection  ;^  and  are  not  set  apart  to  their  office  with  any  form  of 
ordination.  They  preside  over  the  Conferences,  both  General  and  Annual. 
Each  bishop  is  assigned  to  a  district  consisting  of  the  territories  of  several 
Annual  Conferences — at  present  from  six  to  thirteen — ^by  a  committee  elected 
for  the  purpose. 

The  Church  territory  is  divided  among  the  Annual  Conferences,  which 
are  composed  of  ministers,  both  itinerant  and  local,  and  lay  delegates — one 
of  the  latter  for  each  pastoral  charge. 

The  territory  of  an  Annual  Conference  is  divided  into  districts  under  the 
supervision  of  Presiding  Elders  elected  by  the  Conference. 

The  method  of  pastoral  supply  is  that  of  the  itinerancy.  Pastors  are  ap- 
pointed to  their  charges  by  a  Stationing  Committee,  which  consists  of  the 
presiding  Bishop  and  the  Presiding  Elders  of  the  preceding  year,  together 
with  any  that  may  have  been  elected  to  succeed  them.  The  appointee  has 
the  right,  in  case  of  dissatisfaction,  to  appeal  to  the  Annual  Conference — a 
right,  however,  which  is  rarely  exercised.  The  pastoral  term,  originally  one 
year,  then  extended  to  two,  then  to  three,  is  now  without  limitation.'' 

A  still  later  representative  of  the  idea  of  scriptural  and  ex- 
pedient episcopacy  is  The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  organ- 
ized in  1873.  "This  Church  recognizes  and  adheres  to  Episco- 
pacy, not  as  of  divine  right,  but  as  a  very  ancient  and  desirable 
form  of  church  polity."^ 

way  the  work  they  had  so  long  done  in  an  unofficial  way."  (Berger,  "His- 
tory of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ"  (American  Church  History  Series), 
P-  364-) 

^"Bishop  Glossbrenner  was  elected  for  ten  successive  terms,  after  which, 
being  no  longer  efficient,  he  was  elected  bishop  emeritus,  his  death  occurring 
two  j'^ears  after."     (Berger,  "History  of  the  United  Brethren,"  p.  365.) 

^Discipline  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ   (1905). 

""Declaration  of  Principles  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church." 


VII. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  IDEA:  AMERICAN  EPISCOPAL 
METHODISM. 

The  idea  of  a  scriptural  and  expedient  episcopate  has  re- 
ceived its  strongest  embodiment  in  American  Methodism.  As 
we  have  seen,  the  patriarchal  or  autocratic  form,  which  it  as- 
sumed first  of  all  in  the  person  of  Wesley  himself,  gave  place 
in  the  British  Islands,  at  the  close  of  his  personal  administra- 
tion, to  a  government  by  the  Conference,  with  no  marked  epis- 
copal features.  But  in  America  the  course  of  development  was 
conspicuously  different.  Here  the  Conference  became  supreme 
before  the  venerable  founder's  death,  while  on  the  other  hand 
the  episcopal  office  was  retained  with  much  of  its  original  power, 
responsibility,  and  opportunity.  It  is  this  latter  development 
which  we  are  now,  as  briefly  as  may  be,  to  trace. 

I,  The  Connectional  Idea. 

Let  us  think,  then,  of  a  few  scattered  Wesleyans  in  the  Amer- 
ican Colonies  in  the  sixth  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Among  them  are  three  local  preachers — Robert  Strawbridge  a 
small  farmer,  Philip  Embury  a  carpenter,  and  Captain  Thomas 
Webb  a  battle-scarred  soldier  of  the  British  army.  Societies  be- 
gan to  be  formed,  converts  gained,  "preaching  houses"  built  or 
bought. 

How  shall  these  societies  be  governed  and  inter-related  ?  Con- 
ceivably each  little  congregation  might  manage  its  own  affairs, 
with  no  recognition  of  any  outside  authority  or  supervision. 
Meantime  new  congregations  of  like  faith  and  order  would  be 
established,  all  self-governing  and  self -propagating,  but  all  in 
more  or  less  fraternal  association  with  one  another.  This  would 
have  been  the  way  of  the  Independent  or  the  Baptist.  But  the 
Wesleyan  formative  idea  was  that  of  connectionalism,  not  that 

(493) 


494  Christianity  as  Organized 

of  independency.  So  the  American  Methodists  sent  an  urgent 
request  to  Wesley,  three  thousand  miles  away,  to  provide  them 
with  ministerial  service.  Wesley,  on  his  part,  felt  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  pastor  toward  "these  poor  sheep  in  the  Mn'lderness." 
They  were  exposed  to  false  doctrine,  to  laxity  of  discipline,  to 
many  perils  from  which  it  was  incumbent  upon  him,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  protect  them. 

Not  only  so,  but  they  represented  an  opportunity  to  do  a  larger 
work  in  the  New  World,  to  which  he  could  not  blamelessly  be 
indifferent.  The  aggressive  spirit  of  evangelism,  of  the  Chris- 
tian soldiers'  league  "offensive  and  defensive"  which  he  would 
fain  have  formed,  appealed  to  him.  For  the  abiding  vision  of 
the  Holy  War  which  had  caught  Wesley's  eye  was  not  that  of 
the  conquest  and  re-conquest  of  a  single  elect  Mansoul.  It  was 
that  of  conquering  in  love  the  rebellious  multitudes  of  his  own 
and  other  lands,  even  of  the  whole  world,  to  the  obedience  of 
the  Lord  Christ  who  had  died  for  their  salvation.  And  here  in 
the  American  Colonies  was  a  continental  mission  field. 

Accordingly  a  missionary  volunteer,  Richard  Boardman,  was 
appointed  by  Wesley  as  his  "assistant,"  or  superintendent  of  so- 
cieties, in  these  Colonies. 

There  was  but  one  pastoral  charge,  or  circuit.  Its  name  ap- 
pears in  the  minutes  of  the  English  Conference  of  1770  as 
"America ;"  and  of  this  wide  but  almost  wholly  uncultivated 
field  Boardman  took  the  oversight.  He  was  superseded,  after 
two  years,  by  Francis  Asbury.  But  as  the  number  of  societies 
increased,  other  circuits  were  organized,  and  a  "general  assist- 
ant," Thomas  Rankin,  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
whole  work.  Afterwards,  on  Rankin's  return  to  England  in 
the  beginning  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  Asbury,  by  the 
choice  of  the  preachers  and  the  subsequent  recognition  of  Wes- 
ley, became  general  assistant.  He  was  not  superseded  and  he 
never  quitted  the  field — the  man  of  the  hour  had  come. 

The  proposed  form  of  government  was  an  extension  to  Amer- 
ica of  the  polity  of  British  Methodism.  Wesley's  authority  must 
be  supreme,  here  as  there.     The  general  assistant,  as  his  repre- 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        495 

sentative,  was  to  call  the  Conference  together,  preside  over  its 
deliberations,  decide  every  question  that  might  be  brought  be- 
fore it,  and  make  the  appointments  of  the  preachers  to  their 
fields  of  labor.  He  might  be  removed  from  office  and  recalled 
to  England,  and  any  one  else  or  no  one  at  all  ajipointed  in  his 
place,  at  any  time.  And  to  this  absolute  personal  government 
the  preachers  agreed  for  a  little  more  than  a  decade/  As  to  the 
people,  there  was  no  thought  of  giving  them  any  share  in  gov- 
ernmental affairs. 

Now  is  this  to  be  classed  as  a  scriptural  and  expedient  proce- 
dure? Shall  evangelic  church  government,  like  Romanism,  offer 
an  example  of  no  other  individualism  than  that  which  it  exem- 
plifies by  the  concentration  of  all  its  powers  in  a  single  indi- 
vidual ?  Its  advocates  would  certainly  search  in  vain  for  a 
precedent  in  the  New  Testament.  Nor  could  they,  on  any  rea- 
sonable ground,  plead  for  its  recognition  as  a  model  method  of 
government  for  the  Church  of  Christ.*  Let  it  be  remembered, 
however,  that  no  such  pleas  were  ever  put  forward  in  its  behalf. 
On  neither  side  of  the  Atlantic  was  Wesley  as  yet  consciously 
building  a  church.  He  was  only  organizing  societies  for  spir- 
itual culture  and  the  publication  of  the  gospel,  supplementary  to 
the  Church  of  England.  Besides,  the  practical,  rather  than  any 
theoretical,  aspect  of  the  question  was  that  which  chiefly  deter- 

*"0n  hearing  every  preacher  for  or  against  what  is  in  debate  the  right 
of  determination  shall  rest  with  him  [Asbury]  according  to  the  Minutes." 
(Action  of  the  Delaware  Conference,  1779.) 

This,  it  is  true,  was  the  action  of  an  irregular  body,  not  properly  a  "Con- 
ference" at  all.  But  it  seems  to  have  fairlj'  embodied  the  principle  on  which 
the  Conference  acted  in  all  its  sessions — excepting,  of  course,  those  of  1778, 
'79,  '80,  at  which  Asbury  did  not  preside — till  the  regular  session  of  the 
year  1784,  inclusive. 

*"When  we  follow  the  course  of  events  to  which  Wesley,  from  year  to 
year,  and  with  so  much  address  and  tact  conformed  himself,  it  is  quite  easy  to 
see  how  and  under  what  influence  he  was  led  so  to  construct  his  society,  and 
so  to  organize  its  legislature,  and  its  judicial  and  its  administrative  council, 
as  in  fact  nullifies,  naj^  puts  contempt  upon,  the  very  first  principle  of  a 
true    Church    organization."      (Isaac   Taylor,    "Wesley    and    Methodism,"   p. 

239) 


496  Christianity  as  Organized 

mined  the  course  to  be  followed/  For  a  more  practical  man 
than  the  founder  of  Methodism  has  never  lived.  Great  was  his 
love  of  truth,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  life.  As  a  leader  and  law- 
maker, he  was  ready  to  acquaint  himself  "not  only  with  that 
which  is  most  perfect  in  the  abstract,  but  also  that  which  is  best 
suited  under  any  given  circumstances."^  With  no  preconceived 
set  of  institutions  or  system  of  government  for  his  societies,  he 
simply  availed  himself  of  such  means  and  measures,  from  time 
to  time,  as  seemed  to  be  demanded  by  the  existing  conditions. 
One  after  another  early  prejudices  were  dismissed,  as  obstructive 
to  the  requirements  of  the  work  which  had  been  given  him  to 
do.  So  the  autocratic  administration  of  the  societies,  beginning 
as  it  did  in  the  simplest  possible  manner,  was  perpetuated  and 
extended  because  it  kept  proving  itself  so  effective. 

The  strong  and  saintly  soul  on  which  this  administration  rest- 
ed did  not  desire  it.  On  the  contrary,  inconsistent  as  it  might 
seem  with  his  unfailing  practicalness,  there  was  much  to  incline 
Wesley  to  a  life  of  retirement.  He  was  devout,  studious,  in 
young  manhood  afraid  to  expose  himself  to  the  temptations  of 
ordinary  society,  bent  upon  the  saving  of  his  own  soul.  Had 
he  waked  into  consciousness  two  or  three  centuries  earlier  he 
might  have  sought  refuge  in  a  monastery — and  founded  ere  long 
a  great  monastic  order.*     But  the  task  which  by  such  manifest 

^Compare  the  government  of  the  famous  Sunday  school  of  Dr.  Stephen 
H.  Tyng  in  New  York  City :  "In  my  early  years  as  a  Sunday  school  worker 
I  wrote  to  Dr.  Tyng,  asking  for  a  copy  of  the  constitution  of  his  Sunday 
school.  He  gave  me  a  prompt  and  courteous  reply,  but  said  he  was  sorry  he 
'could  not  come.'  Dr.  Tyng  was  his  own  Sunday  school  constitution.  The 
power  could  not  have  been  lodged  in  a  wiser,  more  generous,  more  aflfec- 
tionate,  or  more  positive  heart  and  will ;  but  it  is  a  good  thing  that  this 
autocratic  idea  does  not  prevail  in  the  modern  Sunday  school."  (Vincent, 
"The  Modern  Sunday  School,"  p.  40.) 

^Aristotle,  "Politics,"  IV.  i. 

'"Indeed,  for  a  long  season  the  greatest  pleasure  I  had  desired  on  this 
side  eternity  was 

'Creeping  silent  through  the  sylvan  shades, 
Exploring  what  is  wise  and  good  in  man.' 

And  we  [his  brother  Charles  and  he]   had  attained  our  desire.     We  wanted 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        497 

tokens  was  appointed  him  of  God^  how  could  he  refuse  to  do  it? 
"Not  for  all  the  gold  of  Arabia,"  said  Thomas  a  Kempis,  "would 
I  have  the  care  of  souls  for  a  single  night."  The  devout  and 
morally  sensitive  recluse  would  not  choose  it,  on  any  consider- 
ation, for  himself.  But  the  very  keenness  of  conscience  that 
bade  him  turn  away  trembling  from  the  thought  of  such  a 
charge  must,  if  sound  and  healthy,  constrain  him  to  accept  it 
when  manifestly  given  of  the  chief  Shepherd  of  souls. 

2.  The  Question  of  the  Sacraments. 

Yet  the  question  was  inevitable,  How  long  are  the  societies  to 
be  held  in  their  present  ecclesiastical  status?  Did  not  their  cir- 
cumstances, at  least  here  in  America,  call  imperatively  for  an 
ordained  ministry  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments? 
From  the  time  of  the  first  Annual  Conference,  in  1773,  and 
even  earlier,  this  was  a  vital  and  ever-recurring  question. 

The  seal  of  Divine  approval  marked  the  labors  of  the  itinerant 
evangelists  and  their  local  fellow-workers.  Like  the  early  Chris- 
tians, they  were  for  the  most  part  unlearned  men,  but  not  without 
charisms  of  prayer  and  song  and  soul-moving  speech.  Like 
them,  they  came  to  be  regarded  as  hot-headed  separatists  from 
the  Church  of  their  fathers,  and  were  honored  with  abundant 
ridicule  and  scorn — "everywhere,"  in  the  Christian  churches  and 
outside,  "spoken  against."  In  fact,  they  stumbled  no  little;  but 
they  also  found  the  scripture  fulfilled  which  saith  that,  while 
"the  bows  of  the  mighty  men  are  broken,"  "they  that  stumbled 
are  girded  with  strength."  With  no  pretension  to  the  accom- 
plishments of  the  biblical  scholar  or  the  trained  theologian,  they 
did  know  the  supreme  fact  of  personal  experience,  and  it  was 

nothing.  We  looked  for  nothing  more  in  this  world  when  we  were  dragged 
out  again,  by  earnest  importunit_v,  to  preach  at  one  place  and  another,  and 
so  carried  on,  we  knew  not  how,  without  any  design  but  the  general  one 
of  saving  souls,  into  a  situation  which,  had  it  been  named  to  us  at  first, 
would  have  appeared  far  worse  than  death."  (Wesley,  "Farther  Appeal  to 
Men  of  Reason  and  Religion,"  III.  i8.)  Compare  Luther's  avowal  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation:  "I  wish  to  live  in  quiet,  and  I  am  hurried 
into  the  midst  of  tumults." 

32 


49^  Christianity  as  Organised 

this  they  told  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  in  power:  "If  any  man  be 
in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature;  the  old  things  are  passed  away; 
behold,  they  are  become  new."  Such  was  the  typical  Methodist 
preacher  of  that  pioneer  time.  No  idolatry  of  a  church,  old  or 
new,  but  the  love  of  human  souls  as  re-conditioned  and  revealed 
in  Christ,  was  the  passion  of  his  life.  Conference,  the  itiner- 
ancy, the  appointing  power,  organization — these  all  were  valued 
only  as  making  a  way  through  which  the  spoken  gospel  might 
have  free  course.  Organization  must  wait  upon  evangelism,  not 
evangelism  upon  organization. 

All  the  while  the  number  of  converts  was  increasing  from  hun- 
dreds to  thousands ;  and  in  the  class  meeting  they  were  being 
trained  for  holy  and  useful  lives.  But  there  was  no  sacramental 
administration.  No  one  could  be  baptized  by  the  Christian 
preacher  through  whom  he  had  made  profession  of  faith  in 
Christ.  The  people  could  not  receive  the  Lord's  Supper  at  the 
hands  of  the  men  whose  evangelic  ministrations  had  brought 
them  into  communion  with  their  Lord.  And  the  rectors  of  the 
Church  of  England,  to  whom  the  Conference  had  commended 
them  for  the  sacramental  ordinances,^  were  almost  without  ex- 
ception unsympathetic  toward  their  spiritual  experience,  and  in 
most  cases  altogether  worldly  or  openly  immoral  in  conduct. 
For  many  of  them  parishes  had  been  secured  in  this  country  be- 
cause they  were  so  idle  or  so  profligate  as  to  be  unendurable  at 
home.''  They  were  "blind  mouths"  or  worse.  What  should  be 
done  ?    It  was  a  critical  situation. 

*"i.  Every  preacher  who  acts  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wesley  and  the 
brethren  who  labor  in  America  is  strictly  to  avoid  administering  the  ordi- 
nances of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  2.  All  the  people  among  whom  we 
labor  to  be  earnestly  exhorted  to  attend  the  Church,  and  to  receive  the  ordi- 
nances there ;  but  in  a  particular  manner  to  press  the  people  in  Maryland  and 
Virginia  to  the  observance  of  this  minute."  (Minutes  of  the  first  American 
Conference,  1773.) 

^Evidence  of  this  bad  state  of  things  is  indisputable : 

"The  progress  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  was  from  bad  to  worse.  Such  was 
the  result  of  the  absence  of  all  proper  government  and  the  presence  of  place- 
men eager  for  spoils,  instead  of  priests  eager  for  souls.  The  predominant  idea 
of  a  State  Church  threw  its  baleful  shadow  over  the  spiritual  estate  of  the 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Mcthodisui        499 

In  war-time,  the  societies  in  America  being  cast  upon  their 
own  resources,  the  Conference,  at  its  meeting  in  Fluvanna  Coun- 
ty, Virginia,  in  the  year  1779,  appointed  a  presbytery,  and  sol- 
emnly set  apart  certain  of  its  senior  members,  with  prayer  and 
the  imposition  of  hands,  to  administer  the  sacraments.  One  year 
afterwards,  however,  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Asbury  and  oth- 
ers, this  administration  of  ordinances  was  discontinued.  Not 
that  any  doubt  was  felt  as  to  the  validity  of  the  presbyterial  or- 
dination that  had  been  given;  but  it  was  a  different  form  of  or- 
dination from  that  to  which  as  quasi  members  of  the  Church  of 
England  the  Methodists  had  been  accustomed.  And  more  espe- 
cially it  had  not  received  the  sanction  of  their  revered  leader. 
Therefore,  the  Conference  now  agreed  to  wait  until  communi- 
cation could  be  had  with  Wesley,  in  hope  of  some  more  satis- 
factory solution  of  their  problem. 

Such  a  solution  was  reached  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  the 
United  States  of  America  the  Church  of  England  did  not  and 
could  not  exist.  Wesley  had  already  appealed  in  vain  to  the 
bishop  of  London,  in  whose  diocese  the  Colonies  were  included, 
to  ordain  a  presbyter  for  the  American  Methodists;^  and  now 

colonies.  There  was  but  a  form  of  godliness,  which  denied  the  power  thereof. 
'The  Roman  Catholics  and  dissenters  looked  with  contempt  upon  an  Estab- 
lishment so  profligate  in  some  of  its  members  that  even  the  laity  sought  to 
purify  it,  and  yet  so  weak  in  its  discipline  that  neither  clergy  nor  laity  could 
purge  it  of  offenders.'     (Maryland  MSS. :  from  archives  at  Fulham.) 

"The  incomes  would  average  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum.  .  .  .  Yet 
all  the  controversies  of  the  clergy  turned  on  this  point  of  their  living.  Noth- 
ing spiritual  or  intellectual,  no  problems  of  theology  or  questions  of  efficient 
administration,  had  awakened  their  interest.  'No  wonder,'  writes  Dr.  Hawks, 
'that  such  a  bastard  Establishment  as  that  of  Maryland  was  odious  to  so  many 
of  the  people;  we  think  their  dislike  is  evidence  of  their  virtue.'  And  no 
wonder  that  the  Methodists,  who  now  came  in,  swept  the  country."  (Tiffany, 
"History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church"  (American  Church  History 
Series'),  pp.  71,  78.) 

^"Wesley  besought  Lowth,  Bishop  of  London,  to  ordain  at  least  two  priests 
who  could  administer  the  sacraments  to  American  Methodists.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  single  action  of  a  bishop  has  ever  been  more  fruitful  for  evil  than 
his  refusal."  ( McConnell,  "History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,"  p. 
170.)  Whatever  the  spirit  or  the  apparent  unwisdom  of  this  episcopal  action, 
as  to  its  "evil"  results  opinions  will  differ. 


500  Clirisfiaiiity  as  Organised 

any  lingering  hope  of  relief  from  that  source  was  cut  off.  As 
to  the  ceremon}'  of  ordination,  he  had  long  been  convinced  that 
the  right  to  perform  it  belongs  to  presbyters  and  not  to  bishops 
as  such.  Accordingly  in  September  of  the  year  1784,  assisted 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Coke  and  the  Rev.  James  Creighton,  presby- 
ters of  the  Church  of  England,  he  ordained  Richard  Whatcoat 
and  Thomas  Vasey  to  the  office  of  elder,  for  service  in  Amer- 
ica.* 

But  Wesley  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  propriety  and  effective- 
ness of  the  episcopacy.  Much  as  he  objected  (for  easily  appre- 
ciable reasons)  to  his  American  superintendents'  calling  them- 
selves by  the  title  "bishop" — which  they  did  soon  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Church — had  he  not  long  embodied  the  real- 
ity, even  in  an  ultra  form,  in  himself?  and  had  he  not  practically 
set  up  the  office  already  in  America  in  the  person  of  Rankin  and 
of  Asbury?*  Moreover,  it  had  proved  to  be  singularly  service- 
able; it  was  full  of  promise;  it  could  not  now  be  dispensed  with. 
The  plan  of  ministerial  service,  therefore,  was  completed  by  the 
ordination  of  Dr.  Thomas  Coke  to  the  superintendency  of  the 
American  societies,  with  instructions  to  confer  the  same  office 
upon  Francis  Asbury,  and  the  office  of  elder  upon  such  American 
preachers  as  might  be  thought  sufficient,  together  with  those  or- 
dained by  Wesley  himself,  to  supply  the  present  need. 

At  a  country  church,  Barratt's  Chapel,  in  the  woods  of  Dela- 
ware, Coke  had  his  first  meeting  with  Asbury,  and  told  the  ob- 
ject of  his  coming.  But  here  arose  a  question ;  Should  the  Con- 
ference have  any  voice  in  this  matter?  There  is  no  good  reason 
to  believe  that  Wesley  intended  that  it  should  even  be  called  to- 
gether. It  was  enough  that  Coke  should  act  under  his  authority, 
ordaining  Asbury  to  the  superintendency,  as  directed,  and  both 
choosing  and  ordaining  other  preachers  to  the  order  of  elders; 

^Cf.  the  proposal  of  Dr.  William  White,  pp.  424,  425. 

°"Ques.  Who  are  the  persons  that  exercise  the  episcopal  office  in  the  Meth- 
odist Church  in  Europe  and  America?  Ans.  John  Wesley,  Thomas  Coke,  and 
Francis  Asbury,  bj'  regular  order  and  succession."  (Minutes  of  the  American 
Conference  of  1789.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  Anicrican  Methodism        501 

and  then  that  the  government  should  go  on,  a  purely  personal 
government,  as  before. 

Such,  however,  was  not  Asbury's  view  of  the  situation.  His 
thirteen  years'  experience  in  America  had  probably  made  it  evi- 
dent that  here  the  Conference  must  be  supreme.  Let  the  preach- 
ers say  whether  or  not  they  will  adopt  the  proposed  form  of 
administration;  let  them,  if  they  will,  elect  their  own  deacons, 
elders,  and  superintendent,  accepting  Wesley's  nominees  as  sim- 
ply nominees,  and  thus  by  their  own  action  organize  the  societies 
into  a  completed  church.  As  for  himself,  Asbury  was  unwilling 
to  accept  the  superintendency  on  Wesley's  appointment  alone. 
He  must  be  chosen  thereto  by  the  free  suffrages  of  his  breth- 
ren. He  would  not  be  leader  of  an  unwilling  band  of  fellow- 
workers. 

Besides,  to  be  chosen  both  by  Wesley  and  the  American  preach- 
ers would  make  his  own  position  more  secure ;  for  he  could  not 
then  be  recalled  to  England  (as  already  had  at  one  time  been 
done)  at  Wesley's  will.  Did,  then,  the  personal  motive  of  per- 
petuating his  own  leadership  influence  Asbury's  call  for  the  vote 
of  a  general  convention?  Doubtless  the  man  who  possesses  a 
distinct  gift  of  leadership  and  command  finds  the  exercise  of  it, 
like  the  exercise  of  any  other  natural  power,  enjoyable.  All  nor- 
mal activity  reacts  in  pleasure.  But  it  would  be  a  reckless  crit- 
icism that  should  accuse  the  character  here  in  question  of  unholy 
ambition.  By  every  token,  the  work  of  Christ  as  called  for  at 
his  hands  was  first  in  Francis  Asbury's  thought.  But  it  is  equal- 
ly certain  that  such  work  seemed  to  have  been  already  given  him 
in  an  honorable  but  hard  and  perilous  position  of  general  over- 
sight. If  Fletcher  of  Madley  could  decline  the  office  of  suc- 
cessor to  Wesley  himself  in  Great  Britain,  and  write  to  Wesley 
that  the  proposed  recommendation  to  the  Methodist  societies  for 
such  a  position  would  make  him  mount  his  horse  "and  gallop 
away,"  it  requires  but  little  of  either  imagination  or  charity  to 
suppose  that  his  contemporary  and  kindred  spirit,  the  homeless 
Asbury,  should  be  similarly  unselfish  in  his  desire  to  continue 
in  his  present  extraordinary  and  toilsome  office. 


502  Christianity  as  Organized 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  general  assistant's  motive,  he 
then  and  there  struck  Wesley's  plan  for  the  government  of  the 
Methodists  of  America  a  blow  that  foretold  its  death.  Govern- 
ment by  a  man  began  forthwith  to  give  way  before  government 
by  law/ 

Accordingly,  at  Asbury's  instance,  a  conference,  or  organizing 
convention,  of  all  the  preachers  was  called ;  and  by  the  action  of 
this  conference,  which  met  in  Baltimore  on  Christmas  eve,  1784, 
the  organization  of  the  church,  under  Coke  and  Asbury  as  its 
superintendents,  was  effected/  And  the  official  name  that  was 
given  the  new  ecclesiastical  body  told  the  importance  of  the 
superintendency  in  the  thought  of  its  organizers.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church/ 

3,  The  Development  of  Autonomy. 

That  Wesley's  office,  so  manifestly  extraordinary,  should  be 
perpetuated  anywhere,  whole  and  entire,  was  out  of  the  ques- 

^"When  Asbury  exclaimed,  as  Thomas  Ware  declares  he  did,  'Doctor,  we 
will  call  the  preachers  together,  and  the  voice  of  the  preachers  shall  be  to  me 
the  voice  of  God,'  he  struck  the  knell  of  personal  government,  and  rung  in  the 
era  of  government  by  the  Conference."  (Neely,  "The  Governing  Conference 
in  Methodism,"  pp.  252,  253.) 

^"When  the  Conference  was  seated,  Dr.  Coke  and  myself  were  unanimously 
elected  to  the  superintendency  of  the  Church.  .  .  .  We  spent  the  whole 
week  in  Conference,  debating  freely  and  determining  all  things  by  a  majority 
of  votes."  (Asbury's  Journal,  December  24,  1784-)  Determining  all  things 
by  a  majority  of  votes— ihe  mark  of  a  most  significant  new  departure  in 
American  Methodism  as  organized. 

*It  could  hardly  be  thought  unfitting  that  the  superintendents  should  call 
themselves  "bishops"  when  the  Church  had  already  been  named — what  it 
undoubtedly  was — "Episcopal." 

"The  Church  thus  organized  was  an  Episcopal  Church:  (i)  by  expressly 
chosen  title;  (2)  by  the  sure  and  certain  testimony  of  contemporary  docu- 
ments and  witnesses;  (3)  by  the  preceding  affiliations  of  the  Societies  and 
their  founder  and  American  leaders;  (4)  by  its  threefold  ordinations,  first 
in  England  and  then  in  America;  (5)  by  virtue  of  the  nonexistence  of  an 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  country  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  this  nonexistence  being  expressly  assigned  as  the 
sufficient  reason  for  creating  this  Church.  It  was  not  a  secession.  There 
was  nothing  to  secede  from.     It  was  not  a  schism.    There  was  no  episcopally 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        503 

tion.  Even  though  his  unique  personahty,  with  its  combination 
of  administrative  genius,  hoHness  of  character,  and  v/ell-nigh  in- 
credible industry,  could  have  found  a  successor,  his  relation  to 
the  societies  was  in  the  nature  of  the  case  impossible  of  rep- 
etition. "For  though  ye  should  have  ten  thousand  tutors  in 
Christ,  yet  have  ye  not  many  fathers." 

Then,  too,  the  Methodist  people  were  making  progress  in 
many  ways.  At  first  with  few  exceptions  laboring  men  and 
women,  uneducated,  unused  to  the  responsibilities  of  leadership, 
ready  to  be  governed  as  well  as  taught,  they  rapidly  increased 
not  only  in  numbers  but  also  in  Christian  knowledge  and  strength 
of  character.  In  the  preachers  of  the  Conference  a  like  devel- 
opment of  mind  and  will  was  realized.  For  it  was  no  repressive 
priestly  regimen  under  which  they  had  been  placed,  but  the  free, 
genial,  godly  fellowship  of  brethren.  They  were  growing  in 
knowledge.  For  they  must  read,  must  study  the  Scriptures,  must 
confer  with  one  another,  must  declare  their  message  continually 
— and  "if  you  want  to  know  anything,  go  and  teach  it."  They 
must  be  incessant  in  doing  all  manner  of  good  as  opportunity 
offered.  And  the  striving  after  such  an  ideal  meant  not  only  the 
enlargement  of  a  brotherhood  but  equally  the  growth  of  the  In- 
dividual. It  meant  greater  independence  of  action  and  fitness 
for  the  functions  of  administration.  It  meant  the  end  of  the 
paternal  autocracy — for  "what  makes  a  man  of  a  child  is  excel- 
lent, but  what  makes  a  child  of  a  man  is  evil."  Hence  the  more 
liberal  and  elaborate  system  of  polity  in  British  Methodism  (and, 
unhappily,  the  divisions  that  wasted  its  strength)  soon  after  the 
founder's  death.  Hence,  also,  the  autonomy  of  American  Meth- 
odism before  his  death/ 

organized  body  of  Christ  in  America  in  which  to  create  a  schism."  (Tigert, 
"The  Making  of  Methodism."  p.  67.) 

^"It  would  be  admitted  by  all  that  it  would  be  simply  absurd  to  give  to  a 
newly  gathered  Church  of  South  African  troglodytes,  or  Ceylonese  tree- 
lodgers,  or  Australian  savages,  the  same  powers  and  functions  which  have 
been  exercised  by  the  Church  of  a  Jay  or  a  James  in  England.  .  .  .  Now, 
these  extreme  cases  prove  the  principle.  .  .  .  But,  in  proportion  as  the  laity 
of  a  Church  advance  in  intelligence  and  the  discipline  of  Christian  culture, 


504  Christianity  as  Organi^^ed 

One's  work,  whether  it  be  great  or  small,  is  continually  pass- 
ing beyond  one's  power.  Neither  the  "dead  hand"  nor  the  living 
hand  can  reach  forth  and  control  it.  Even  should  it  take  the 
form  of  a  strongly  organized  body,  it  will  be  subject  to  unfore- 
seen changes  of  far-reaching  significance.  "My  order  is  too 
much  for  me,"  lamented  Francis  of  Assisi.  "I  was  a  little  sur- 
prised," said  John  Wesley,  "when  I  received  some  letters  from 
Mr.  Asbury  affirming  that  no  person  in  Europe  knew  how  to 
direct  those  in  America."  In  these  two  particular  cases,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  noteworthy  difference.  Francis's  order  was  de- 
parting from  him  in  the  way  of  hierarchical  control  and  of  un- 
enlightened faction  and  strife;  Wesley's  trans-Atlantic  Confer- 
ence was  departing  in  the  way  of  personal  responsibility  and 
reasonable  self-government  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  gospel's. 
He  was  venerated  as  no  one  else,  either  "in  Europe"  or  on  the 
whole  earth  by  his  American  followers,  and  Asbury  next  only 
to  him.  The  preachers  in  Conference  assembled  were  more  than 
willing  to  accept  the  Superintendent  as  their  president,  and  to 
receive  appointments  at  his  word.  But  the  supreme  governing 
power  must  be  lodged  in  the  Conference  itself. 

It  is  true  that  the  organizing  Conference  of  1784,  not  rudely 
breaking  with  the  past,  adopted  a  resolution  of  submission  to 
Wesley's  governing  authority :  "During  the  life  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wesley  we  acknowledge  ourselves  his  sons  in  the  gospel,  ready 
in  matters  belonging  to  church  government  to  obey  his  com- 
mands." By  this  very  action,  however,  the  Conference  implic- 
itly claimed  the  liberty  to  choose  for  itself.  If  at  some  subse- 
quent session  it  saw  fit  to  depart  from  this  rule,  which  was  not 
of  the  nature  of  a  covenant,  that  too  was  within  its  power.  And 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  three  years  afterwards  it  was  done:  in  1787 
the  resolution  of  submission  was  rescinded,  the  name  of  Wesley 
as  chief  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 

it  is  fit  and  right  that  they  should  be  taken  into  closer  and  more  frequent  as- 
sociation with  the  ministry  in  Church  councils  and  decisions."  (Riggs,  "Con- 
nectional  Economy  of  Wesleyan  Methodism,"  pp.  109,  no.)  The  principle  is 
applicable  as  truly  to  a  body  of  preachers  as  to  the  people. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        505 

left  off  the  Minutes,  and  instructions  received  from  him  to  elect 
Richard  Whatcoat  and  Freeborn  Garrettson  to  the  superintend- 
ency  were  disobeyed.  Thus  was  the  ecclesiastic  independency  of 
American  Methodism  fully  asserted  and  established. 

4.   Further  Developments. 

At  the  meetino^  called  for  the  organization  of  the  Church  in 
1784  not  quite  sixty  preachers  were  present,  and  the  whole  number 
of  Conference  members  was  only  eighty-one.  Fewer  than  one- 
fourth  of  this  number,  however,  were  elected  and  ordained  eld- 
ers; and" some  of  these  were  appointed  to  mission  fields  outside 
the  United  States.  It  was  the  elders'  duty  to  supply  the  people 
with  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  With 
this  design  the  circuits  were  arranged  in  groups  of  from  two  to 
six  each;  and  over  each  such  district,  or  group  of  circuits,  was 
appointed  an  elder.  He  must  visit  every  society  in  these  circuits, 
preaching  as  he  went,  but  with  the  special  official  function  of  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments. 

It  occurred,  however,  as  the  number  of  ordinations  in  the  Con- 
ference increased,  that  preachers  in  charge  of  circuits  were  in  some 
instances  themselves  elders ;  and  so  the  minister  in  charge  of  the 
district  came  to  be  distinguished  as  the  presiding  elder. 

But  was  not  his  office  now  becoming  unnecessary?  This  would 
have  been  the  case  but  for  the  fact  that  the  office,  almost  if  not 
quite  from  the  very  beginning,  had  developed  functions  that  were 
probably  not  included  in  its  original  design.  The  presiding  eld- 
er, somewhat  like  the  archdeacon  of  the  earlier  medieval  or  the 
present  English  Church,  became  the  bishop's  assistant,  to  repre- 
sent him  on  the  district  in  his  absence,  and  to  give  him  at  all  times 
needful  information  concerning  the  state  of  the  work.  Thus  the 
presiding  eldership  speedily  developed  into  a  lesser  superintend- 
ency,  or  episcopate,  under  the  general  superintendency  of  the 
bishops.  In  the  Discipline  of  1786,  not  two  years  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Church,  it  is  laid  down  as  the  official  duty  of 
the  elder  "to  exercise  within  his  own  district,  during  the  absence 
of  the  superintendents,  all  the  powers  invested  in  them  for  the 


5o6  Christianity  as  Organised 

government  of  our  Church."  And  in  the  Discipline  of  the  next 
year  we  find  included  in  the  definition  of  this  office  the  following 
duties : 

1.  To  travel  through  his  appointed  district. 

2.  To  administer  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  to  perform  all  parts 
of  divine  service. 

3.  In  the  absence  of  a  bishop  to  take  cliarge  of  all  the  deacons,  traveling 
and  local  preachers,  and  exhorters. 

4.  To  change,  receive,  or  suspend  preachers. 

5.  To  direct  in  the  transaction  of  all  the  spiritual  business  of  the  Church. 

6.  To  take  care  that  every  part  of  our  Discipline  be  enforced. 

7.  To  aid  in  the  public  collections. 

8.  To  attend  his  bishop  when  present,  and  give  him  when  absent  all  pos- 
sible information  by  letter  of  the  state  of  his  district. 

Such  was  the  presiding  eldership  in  the  second  stage  of  its  devel- 
opment; and  through  a  somewhat  stormy  history,  such  essential- 
ly it  has  ever  since  remained.^ 

In  the  year  1792  the  regular,  or  quadrennial,  General  Confer- 
ence was  organized.  Being  composed  substantially  of  the  whole 
body  of  itinerant  preachers,  its  powers  were  unlimited.  It  could 
annul  any  law  of  the  Church  or  enact  any  additional  law,  create 
or  abolish  any  office,  take  from  or  add  to  the  Articles  of  Religion, 
by  its  own  sole  and  immediate  action. 

Sixteen  years  thereafter  the  Delegated  General  Conference 
was  instituted.  Its  powers  were  limited.^  It  could  not  of  itself 
make  any  constitutional  change  in  the  economy  of  the  Church. 

^In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  the  title  was  changed  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1908  to  that  of  District  Superintendent. 

^They  were  made  to  include  all  subjects  of  legislation  except  six,  which 
were  safeguarded  by  six  Restrictive  Rules.  One  is  reminded,  by  way  of  con- 
trast, of  the  Constitution  of  the  country  in  whose  religious  life  this  young 
"Church  of  the  people"  was  to  play  so  large  a  part.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  confines  the  powers  of  the  general  governm.ent  to  the  subjects 
which  it  specifies,  and  leaves  legislation  on  all  others  to  "the  States  respect- 
ively or  to  the  people."  (Constitution,  Amendments,  Art.  X.)  The  Church 
constitution  forbids  to  the  General  Conference  certain  things,  and  permits  all 
things  else;  the  national  constitution  permits  to  Congress  certain  things,  and 
forbids  all  else. 


TJie  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Mcihodisui        507 

Such  a  change  must  still  be  made  by  the  whole  body  of  itinerant 
ministers :  not  now,  however,  as  assembled  at  one  time  and  place, 
but  first,  through  their  elected  delegates  at  the  General  Confer- 
ence, and  then,  in  their  own  person  at  the  meetings  of  the  various 
Annual  Conferences.  And  with  this  institution,  the  Church,  as 
to  both  its  ministry  and  its  legislative  council,  in  all  their  main 
features,  may  be  regarded  as  having  completed  its  organization 
— with  one  significant  exception. 

5.  Later  Forms  of  Organization. 

Not  for  more  than  half  a  century  thereafter  were  laymen  in- 
trusted with  any  part  in  legislation.  Even  then  they  did  not  de- 
mand it  as  a  right ;  and  never  before  had  it  been  imposed  upon 
them  as  a  duty.  As  for  the  explanation,  it  will  not  be  found  in 
any  extraordinary  indifference  on  the  part  of  Methodist  laymen 
to  the  work  and  progress  of  the  Church.  For  their  peculiarity, 
in  comparison  with  the  laymen  of  other  communions,  was  rather 
that  of  unusual  activity.  They  were  local  preachers,  exhorters, 
class  leaders,  personal  workers,  leaders  in  devotional  meetings. 

Nor  would  it  be  a  fair  explanation  to  assert  that  the  ministry, 
through  love  of  power,  were  unwilling  to  accord  to  the  laity 
their  proper  rights  and  opportunities ;  for  by  no  such  spirit  of  un- 
righteousness were  they  dominated.  They  showed  the  heart  not 
of  a  lord  but  of  a  brother  toward  all  their  brethren.  How  was 
it,  then?  They  were  only  bearing  the  responsibility  that  seemed 
to  be  laid  upon  them  in  the  providence  of  God.  From  the  hands 
of  their  apostolic  founder  the  government  had  passed  easily  and 
naturally  into  their  own.  They  had  administered  it  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  for  the  good  of  the  people ;  signal  prosperity  had  attend- 
ed their  administration;  and  they  saw  no  reason  to  believe  that 
lay  representation,  especially  as  not  desired  by  the  laity,  would  be 
an  improvement.  On  the  contrary,  it  seemed  hazardous  and  en- 
feebling. The  fact  that  other  Protestant  churches  had  it — even 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  daughter  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland, according  to  laymen  a  large  share  in  its  government — 
and  that  it  suited  the  genius  of  American  civil  institutions,  count- 


5o8  Christianity  as  Organized 

ed  for  little  or  nothing-.  Methodism  was  sui  generis,  and  in  its 
peculiarities  lay  the  secret  of  its  success.' 

Upon  this  exclusive  ministerial  government  a  side-light  may- 
be thrown  from  the  Methodist  plan  of  pastoral  supply.  Has  a 
Christian  preacher  a  right  to  go  and  to  stay  where  he  pleases  with 
his  ministration  of  the  gospel?  Undoubtedly;  but  he  may  follow 
his  judgment  and  conscience  with  equal  fidelity  in  putting  him- 
self under  the  control  of  the  chief  officers  and  representatives  of 
the  Church,  to  be  sent  wdiere  they  will.  Has  a  congregation  a 
right  to  select  the  pastor  under  whose  ministry  they  shall  sit? 
Undoubtedly ;  but  they  may  also  rightfully  waive  this  right  for 
satisfactory  reasons,  and  accept  the  pastor  appointed  by  some 
higher  authority  in  the  Church.  Has  a  man  the  right  to  a  de- 
termining voice  as  to  the  amount  of  pecuniary  compensation  he 
shall  receive  for  services  rendered?  Undoubtedly;  but  he  has 
the  right  also  to  forego  this  right,  as  the  Methodist  preacher 
does — pro  majorem  gloriam  Dei — and  let  the  amount  of  com- 
pensation be  determined  by  those  whom  he  serves.  Who  shall 
deny  to  ministers  and  people  the  free  exercise  of  such  Christian 
rights  as  these  ? 

Here,  then,  appears  the  way  of  the  Methodists.  Its  fundamental 
principle  was  not  a  claim  but  a  sacrifice,  the  right  of  love  to  live 
its  life,  mutual  self-surrender  by  preacher  and  people  for  the 
sake  of  the  common  good.  And  was  it  a  ^•ery  strange  tiling 
that  this  same  principle  should  be  permitted  to  determine 
the  question  of  the  layman's  participation  in  church  govern- 
ment ? 

Soldiers  are  honored,  despite  the  fact  that  on  occasion  they 
must  injure  or  even  kill  their  fellow-men.  They  are  honored 
because  of  their  willingly  surrendering  the  right  to  life  itself, 
which  all  men  hold  so  dear,  at  the  call  of  their  country.  They 
are  honored  because,  in  the  face  of  grim  and  terrible  death,  4;hey 


^"The  authority  exercised  by  Wesley  through  his  Heutenants  was  that  of 
a  commander-in-chief  in  time  of  war.  The  Methodist  society  was  on  a  war 
basis,  and  perhaps  no  more  efficient  fighting  machine  was  ever  devised." 
(Heermance,  "Democracy  in  the  Church,"  p.  74.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Mcthodisui        509 

are  faithful  both  to  obey  and,  if  their  office  require,  cahnly  to 
command  the  obedience  of  others.  Said  the  Roman  soldier  at 
the  greatness  of  whose  faith  Jesus  marveled:  "I  also  am  a  man 
under  authority,  having  under  myself  soldiers."  And  while  mil- 
itary organization  is  far  indeed  from  being  a  perfect  type  for 
either  Church  or  State,  it  does  illustrate  the  principle  that,  while 
insistence  upon  a  right  is  sometimes  a  good  thing,  holding  a 
right  in  abeyance  for  the  sake  of  a  cause  may  be  distinctly  better. 
Beyond  controversy,  better,  inasmuch  as  the  supreme  law  of  life 
is  not  insistence  upon  rights  but  the  service  of  love.  "We  ought 
to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren." 

But  the  Conference,  still  guided  by  its  ideas  of  practical  effi- 
ciency, was  gradually  reducing  the  power  of  ministers  and  add- 
ing to  that  of  laymen.  Originally,  for  example,  the  preacher  in 
charge  appointed  his  own  stewards ;  afterwards  they  were  elect- 
ed by  the  Quarterly  Conference  on  his  nomination.  Originally 
he  could  at  his  own  discretion  give  license  to  exhort  or  to  preach ; 
afterwards  it  must  be  given  by  the  Quarterly  Conference.  Orig- 
inally he  could  himself  expel  a  member  from  the  church;  after- 
wards it  must  be  done  by  a  committee  of  laymen. 

But  the  movement  in  this  direction  was  checked  by  what 
seemed  an  indiscreet  and  passionate  attempt  to  increase  its  speed. 
This  attempt  was  the  agitation  of  the  question  of  lay  representa- 
tion and  kindred  measures,  which  led  to  the  organization  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  1830.  Another  generation  must 
now  pass  before  the  uItra-conser\'atism  which  was  strengthened 
by  this  event  would  admit  of  the  participation  of  any  others 
than  the  itinerant  preachers  in  church  legislation. 

At  the  present  time  laymen  share  equally  with  the  ministerial 
delegates,  in  both  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches,  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  General  Conference.' 

^"The  act  of  the  body  of  the  ministry  in  the  Annual  Conferences  and 
of  the  ministers  in  the  General  Conference  in  providing  for  lay  delegation 
has  been  pronounced  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  the  voluntary  relin- 
quishment of  powder  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  world."  (Neely,  "The 
Governing  Conference  in  Methodism,"  p.  434.) 


5IO  Christianity  as  Organised 

6.  The  Bishop's  Power. 

Notwithstanding  such  democratic  changes  as  these,  there  is 
one  of  Wesley's  powers  that  has  been  transmitted  in  its  entirety 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  bishops  of  the  present  day — namely, 
the  appointing  of  preachers  to  their  fields  of  labor.  Theoret- 
ically this  power  is  unlimited,  save  by  the  limitation  of  the  pas- 
toral term,  where  such  limitation  exists.  On  his  sole  responsi- 
bility, a  bishop,  either  at  the  session  of  an  Annual  Conference  or 
in  the  interval  between  its  sessions,  may  remove  any  pastor  from 
his  charge  and  send  him  to  any  other  in  the  Church.  In  point 
of  fact,  however,  such  appointments  are  not  made  ad  interim 
without  the  consent  of  the  pastor  himself,  or  else  in  case  of  ex- 
treme necessity;  and  at  the  Conference  session  the  bishop  is  as- 
sisted in  making  the  appointments,  according  to  a  custom  that 
has  acquired  the  force  of  law,  by  the  presiding  elders  in  coun- 
cil. Here,  moreover,  the  wishes  of  preachers  and  people,  as  well 
as  the  demands  of  the  common  cause,  are  carefully  considered. 

But  a  more  distinct  and  positive  safeguard  than  any  of  these 
customs  is  the  law,  that  if  a  preacher  refuse  to  fill  an  appoint- 
ment he  is  accountable  not  to  the  bishop  but  to  the  Annual  Con- 
ference only.  Not  to  his  bishop,  who  can  neither  prescribe  nor 
inflict  a  penalty,  but  to  his  Conference,  of  whose  sympathy  he  is 
sure,  every  preacher  stands  or  falls. 

Still  the  appointing  power  may,  on  theoretical  grounds,  be  eas- 
ily objected  to.  The  closet  philosopher  would  almost  certainly 
disapprove  of  it.  The  critic  may  lay  down  what  seems  to  be  a 
fatally  damaging  argument  against  the  committal  of  such  ex- 
traordinary authority  to  any  human  being.  But  practically  this 
authority  has  approved  itself,  in  the  general  effect,  as  a  bene- 
faction to  both  pastor  and  congregation,  and  an  element  of  great 
effectiveness  in  the  operations  of  the  Church.' 

^Among  the  suggested  modifications  of  the  offices  of  superintendency, 
one  of  the  most  reasonable  would  seem  to  be  that  the  presiding  elders  of 
an  Annual  Conference  shall  be  constituted  in  law  the  advisory  council  of 
the  bishop,  and  that  no  pastoral  or  other  appointment  shall  be  made  during 
the  session  of  Conference,  except  in  open  council. 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        511 

7.  Is  THE  Episcopate  in  Methodism  an  "Order?" 

The  episcopate,  in  the  current  Methodist  terminology,  is  not 
an  order  but  an  office  only.  In  the  explanatory  note  prefixed  to 
the  Form  of  Consecrating  Bishops  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  it  is  explicitly  stated :  "This  service  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  an  ordination  to  a  higher  Order  in  the  Christian  min- 
istry, beyond  and  above  that  of  Elder,  or  Presbyter,  but  as  a 
solemn  and  fitting  Consecration  for  the  special  and  sacred  duties 
of  Superintendency  in  the  Churcli."  Hence  the  word  "ordain,"' 
which  is  used  in  the  service  for  the  setting  apart  of  deacons  and 
elders,  is  nowhere  used  in  this  service. 

What,  then,  is  an  order  as  contradistinguished  from  an  office 
in  the  Christian  ministry  ? 

(i)  It  has  been  defined  in  the  Church  of  Rome — at  least  in 
the  case  of  "Holy  Orders" — as  0  ministerial  office  the  ordinafion 
to  zvhich  confers  upon  its  recipient  a  specific  grace,  or  spiritual 
pozver,  which  no  layman  can  possess.  This  power  has  reference 
particularly  to  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Reaching 
its  perfection  in  the  priest,  it  qualifies  him  to  perform  the  miracle 
of  transubstantiation.  But  some  measure  of  it  is  imparted  to 
the  lower  Holy  Orders — namely,  that  of  the  deacon  and  that  of 
the  sub-deacon,  and  even  to  the  four  Minor  Orders. 

This  sacerdotal  belief  is  also  professed,  as  to  its  essence, 
though  otherwise  more  or  less  modified,  by  sacramentarians  out- 
side the  Roman  communion. 

It  need  not  here  be  taken  into  account. 

(2)  An  order  might  be  defined  as  a  lifetime  ministerial  office 
set  forth  and  sanctioned  in  the  N'en'  Testament.  Under  this  defi- 
nition, how  many  of  these  New  Testament  ministerial  offices 
may  be  counted?  The  Congregationalist,  the  Baptist,  the  Pres- 
byterian, and  the  Lutheran  would  answer.  One;  the  Protestant 
Episcopalian,  three;  the  Episcopal  Methodist,  two.  These,  then, 
must  be  accounted  orders ;  while  all  other  lifetime  ministerial 
offices,  not  being  able  to  claim  New  Testament  sanction,  shall  be 
called  offices  only. 


512  Christianity  as  Organised 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  in  passing,  that  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  would  be  an  impossible  task  for  any  of  the  above-men- 
tioned churches — or  indeed  for  any  present-day  church — ^to  show 
that  its  lifetime  ministerial  office  or  offices  are  set  forth  and 
sanctioned  in  the  New  Testament.  For  such  lifetime  ministerial 
offices  as  are  there  set  forth  and  sanctioned  have  no  proper  rep- 
resentatives in  modern  churches.  True,  their  formative  ideas 
remain  in  the  Church ;  but  the  forms  and  functions  in  which  the 
ideas  originally  appeared  have  nowhere  the  same  official  embodi- 
ment now  as  then, 

(3)  An  order  might  be  defined  as  a  ininistcrial  oifice  that  con- 
fers authority  for  the  administration  of  a  sacrament.  Accepting 
this  definition.  Episcopal  Methodism  would  still  show  the  same 
two  orders  in  her  ministry — deacons  being  authorized  to  baptize 
and  presbyters  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Here,  too,  however — and  even  more  obviously  than  in  the  case 
just  considered — no  specific  New  Testament  authority,  either  in 
the  form  of  command  or  of  precedent,  could  be  claimed  for  these 
two  orders.  For  what  New  Testament  congregation  ever  re- 
quired ordination,  or  office-giving,  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  either  baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper? 

(4)  An  order  might  be  defined  as  simply  a  lifetime  ministerial 
oifice.  Under  which  definition  Episcopal  Methodism  would 
count,  thus  far  in  her  history,  three  ministerial  orders. 

Now  to  those  who  hold  that  the  Christian  minister  is  not  a 
priest,  and  that  no  form  of  government,  whether  it  appear  in 
the  New  Testament  or  not,  has  been  made  universally  and  per- 
petually binding  on  the  Church,  this  distinction  between  order 
and  office  would  seem  to  render  a  more  than  doubtful  service. 
Because  it  is  liable  to  be  understood  as  involving  some  idea  of 
sacerdotalism,  or  at  least  of  an  exclusive  divine  right.  So,  there- 
fore, all  use  of  the  ecclesiastical  term  "order,"  which  is  both  non- 
Scriptural  and  vague,  might,  with  perhaps  more  gain  than  loss, 
be  discontinued. 

At  any  rate,  the  confusion  of  thought  which  has  sometimes  at- 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        513 

tended  the  subject  may,  without  difficulty,  be  avoided  by  an  ex- 
act definition  of  terms.  Is  it  asked,  then,  whether  the  Methodist 
episcopacy  be  an  order  or  simply  an  office?  Take  the  pains  to 
avoid  all  trickery  of  words,  define  the  term  "order" — and  the 
question  is  answered. 

8.  Episcopal  Limitations. 

Bishops  have  no  legislative  function.  They  are  moderators, 
but  not  members  of  the  lawmaking  council  of  the  Church — offer- 
ing no  motion  or  resolution  and  casting  no  vote.  So  the  dis- 
tinction is  here  clearly  drawn  between  prelacy  and  episcopacy. 
The  prelate  is  a  lawmaking  bishop.  Thus,  even  in  that  very 
mild  form  of  prelacy  that  is  represented  by  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  there  is  a  house  of  bishops  coordinate  with  the 
house  of  deputies  in  the  supreme  legislative  body.  Without  the 
concurrence  of  the  bishops,  therefore,  no  law  can  be  passed.  But 
the  Methodist  episcopacy  represents  the  proper  episcopal  office 
of  oversight  and  administration  without  the  addition  of  legis- 
lative powers. 

Nor  do  the  bishops  of  Methodism  have  any  voice  in  the  con- 
demnation or  the  acquittal  of  a  minister  on  trial,  whether  it  be 
for  personal  or  for  official  misconduct.  Neither  are  they  en- 
titled to  any  option  as  to  who  shall  be  admitted  into  the  minis- 
try: they  can  ordain  no  one  either  as  deacon  or  elder  until  he 
shall  have  been  elected  to  the  office  by  the  Annual  Conference; 
and  they  must  ordain  such  as  have  been  duly  elected.  The  power 
of  ordination  is  invested  in  them  as  a  matter  of  orderly  arrange- 
ment, not  of  divine  right.  In  fact,  it  is  the  Conference  that  both 
elects  and  through  its  chosen  representative  ordains.^ 

For  such  as  the  foregoing  reasons,  therefore,  the  Methodist 
General   Superintendency,   notwithstanding  its   investiture  with 

^Note  the  language  of  the  Form  of  Ordaining  Elders  and  of  Conse- 
crating Bishops  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church :  "The  Lord  pour  upon 
thee  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  an  Elder  [or  Bishop]  in 
the  Church  of  God,  now  committed  to  thee  by  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
through  the  imposition  of  our  hands." 

33 


514  Christianity  as  Organised 

the  power  of  appointing  pastors,  has  been  called  a  "moderate 
episcopacy." 

The  bishops  are  officially  coordinate.  No  one  of  them  may 
exercise  the  least  authority  over  the  others,  or  be  charged  with 
any  duty  from  which  the  others  are  exempt.  Each  is  an  itin- 
erant general  superintendent — the  Missionary  Bishops  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  being  the  only  exceptions — and  is 
expected  to  preside  over  all  the  Annual  Conferences,  at  home  and 
abroad,  in  his  turn,  according  to  a  plan  of  visitation  agreed  upon 
at  the  annual  Bishops'  Meeting.* 

There  could  hardly  be  a  grander  ecclesiastic  idea  than  that  of 
such  a  superintendency,  authoritative,  brotherly,  world-wide.  In 
its  practical  working,  however,  it  must  submit  to  severe  limita- 
tions. No  man  during  the  few  years — say,  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five — of  his  tenure  of  the  episcopal  office  can  become,  in  fact  as 
well  as  in  name,  a  general  overseer  of  a  world-wide  church. 
Great  is  the  difference  even  between  Wesley's  visitation  of  the 
United  Society  of  Great  Britain,  or  Asbury's  and  McKendree's 
itinerancy  through  the  territory  of  eight  Annual  Conferences  in 
a  rude  new  country,  and  the  twentieth-century  Methodist  bishop's 
circuit  of  the  globe. 

If  the  claims  of  ecclesiastical  unity  should  permit,  the  lessen- 
ing of  territorial  jurisdiction  would  make  the  general  superin- 
tendency more  serviceable  because  more  real. 

9.  Pow^ER  OF  This  Polity. 

Notwithstanding  the  discount  of  numerous  faults  and  short- 
comings, of  maladjustments,  imperfection  of  details,  failures  in 
administration.  Episcopal  Methodism  has  been  the  marvel  of 
American  Christianity.     Making  its  start  without  material,  in- 

^"Such  an  office  and  such  officers  are  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  ec- 
clesiastical government.  ...  Its  freedom  from  difference  and  dissen- 
sion, its  harmony  of  counsel  and  unity  of  wise  and  energetic  action,  are  a 
continuous  condition  sine  qua  non  not  only  of  its  efficiency  but  of  its  very 
life.  Should  these  characteristics  be  permanently  lost,  the  office  as  it  has 
existed  must  perish."     (Tigert,  "The  Making  of  Methodism,"  p.  7.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        515 

tellectiial,  or  social  advantages,  more  than  a  century  later  than 
any  other  of  the  principal  Christian  denominations/  it  has  over- 
spread the  land  with  its  churches,  schools,  missions,  literature, 
and  people,  and  pressed  its  way  into  other  lands,  with  unequaled 
energy  and  effectiveness. 

Now  if  these  be  the  acknowledged  facts  of  its  history,  they 
call  for  some  candid  examination  of  its  economy.  For  without 
stumbling  into  the  fallacy  of  false  cause,  we  may  believe  that 
its  successes  are  due,  in  an  appreciable  degree,  to  the  forms  of 
organization  and  activity  under  which  they  have  been  won. 
Looking  sympathetically,  then,  at  the  structure  and  methods  of 
Episcopal  Methodism,  we  shall  not  find  it  difficult  to  note  such 
traits  as  the  following : 

I.  Its  adaptivcncss.  All  growth  is  conditioned  upon  a  con- 
tinual readjustment  of  the  life  within  to  the  world  without.  And 
Methodism  has  not  been  mechanically  constructed :  it  has  grown. 
No  man  or  set  of  men  said  at  its  inception.  Go  to,  here  is  a  per- 
fect architectural  design,  let  us  build  an  ecclesiastical  city,  and 
a  tower  that  shall  reach  to  heaven.  There  was  no  plan  drawn 
beforehand,  either  with  or  without  "specifications."  This  vigor- 
ous Christian  agency  may  best  be  described  not  as  a  building 
but  as  an  enlarging  inner  life  finding  successive  uniform  meth- 
ods of  outward  expansion.  The  various  features  of  its  economy 
were  evolved,  as  the  need  of  them  was  felt,  in  the  circumstances 
and  opportunities  of  the  time. 

So,  likewise,  will  its  future  success  depend,  in  large  measure, 
upon  its  power  to  adapt  the  one  Christian  gospel  and  the  one 
Christian  experience,  in  their  methods  of  aggression,  to  the  new 
conditions  that  are  ever  arising.  Only  let  it  remember  that  this 
remolding  of  institutions  by  their  informing  ideas  is  not  the 

^The  case  is  put  very  mildly  in  the  text.  In  point  of  fact,  early  Ameri- 
can Methodism  was  severely  discredited  by  all  the  older  Churches.  "Hard 
by  the  Dutch  church  stood  a  smaller  and  less  pretentious  chapel  [John 
Street  Methodist  Chapel,  New  York  Citj'l  on  whose  worshipers  Episco- 
palians and  Dissenters  alike  looked  down  with  horror  not  unmixed  with 
contempt."  (McMaster,  "History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.  56.)     The  instance  seems  to  have  been  fairly  typical. 


5i6  Christianity  as  Organized 

work  of  a  day.  Normally  a  slow  and  gradual  process,  it  calls 
for  the  patience  of  hope  as  well  as  the  labor  of  love, 

(2)  Its  strongly  ministerial  character.  Not  officialism,  and 
not  popular  claims  and  prerogatives,  but  ministration  is  empha- 
sized. Not  the  rule  of  the  bishop  nor  the  rule  of  the  layman,  but 
the  Conference  of  ministers  and  preachers — the  evangelical  min- 
istrative  element — has  always  been  most  prominent. 

As  to  its  ministers,  none  are  unemployed ;  as  to  its  pulpits, 
none  are  vacant.^  Appointments  to  the  pastorate  are  made  un- 
der a  recognized  law,  which  avoids  the  two  congregational  evils 
of  the  indefinitely  long  endurance  of  an  unfit  incumbent  of  the 
office,  and  the  rending  of  a  church  in  the  effort  to  effect  a  change. 
There  is  not  a  moment's  inter-regnum :  the  same  word  that  ends 
one  pastorate  sets  up  another. 

This  method  of  pastoral  supply  affords  the  people  variety  and 
fullness  of  Christian  preaching,  gives  the  preacher  a  regulated 
opportunity  to  use  his  resources  and  accumulated  materials  in  a 
new  field, ^  and  tends  to  the  revival  of  interest  and  activity  in 
the  church. 

Moreover,  the  position  of  the  minister  is  assured  by  the  Con- 
ference, not  by  the  people,  and  is  therefore  most  favorable  to 

^"Unemployed  ministers  lying  around  promiscuously,  hunting  for  a  job, 
committees  on  pastoral  supply  bombarded  with  testimonials  and  with  letters 
of  recommendation,  and  sometimes  disgusted  with  the  shameless  scrambling 
of  applicants,  Churches  going  pastorless  for  months,  sampling  an  endless 
series  of  prospective  pastors — all  these  abominations  exist  among  us.  It 
is  not  that  we  Baptists  have  any  monopoly  of  this  wretched  business,  but 
surely  our  Churches  are  suffering,  and  will  continue  to  suffer  from  these 
evils  unless  they  themselves  apply  the  remedy."  (Dargan,  "Ecclesiology," 
p.  186.) 

*"The  merely  physical  influence  of  frequent  change  of  scene  and  the 
animation  that  arises  from  contact  with  fresh  congregational  surfaces — if 
so  we  may  speak — and  the  opportunity  afforded  to  active-minded  preachers 
to  amend  their  stjde  in  entering  upon  a  new  circuit,  and,  not  the  least 
among  these  advantages  of  itinerancy,  that  knowledge  of  mankind  which 
it  may  impart,  all  tend  to  promote  the  preacher's  improvement,  to  give 
him  a  just  confidence  in  himself,  to  render  him  fearless  of  individual  coun- 
tenances, and  to  fix  upon  his  ministrations  a  character  of  force,  animation, 
and  freshness."     (Isaac  Taylor,  "Wesley  and  Methodism,"  p.  219.) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Mcthodisni        517 

fidelity  in  declaring  the  whole  word  of  God  and  in  administering 
discipline  in  the  congregation.  Like  a  prophet  of  old,  he  is  sent 
rather  than  called ;  and  all  that  can  be  done  is  done  to  free  him 
from  the  temptations  of  fear  and  of  favor,  that  he  may  fully 
declare  his  Master's  message. 

Here,  let  us  imagine,  are  a  hundred  churches  to  be  supplied 
with  ministers  as  preachers,  pastors,  administrators,  leaders  in 
Christian  enterprise.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  are  a  hundred 
ministers  ready  for  such  service.  Traveling  to  and  fro  contin- 
ually among  churches  and  ministers,  making  acquaintance  with 
them  all,  are  also  a  company  of  five  or  six  superintendents,  whose 
duty  it  is,  according  to  a  voluntary  agreement  between  both 
parties,  to  appoint  these  ministers  to  these  churches.  Now  is  it 
less  or  is  it  more  likely  that  a  better  adjustment  of  the  workers 
to  the  work  will  be  made  than  if  each  of  these  hundred  churches, 
large  or  small,  strong  or  feeble  in  resources,  should  have  to  seek 
out  and  persuade  into  acceptance  its  own  minister,  among  the 
many,  employed  and  unemployed,  throughout  the  land?  Un- 
doubtedly there  is  a  significant  difference  between  the  two  poli- 
ties. Which  would  seem  to  be,  upon  the  whole,  the  more  eco- 
nomical of  ministerial  forces? 

(3)  Its  utilization  of  lay  ivorkers.  In  the  earlier  days  the 
minister  was  almost  wholly  an  evangelist :  the  class  leader  was 
the  local  pastor.  Always  the  ideal,  variously  embodied,  has  been 
the  working  church. 

(4)  Its  unity.  Not  only  the  Conference  but  also  the  two 
features  of  organization  that  chiefly  distinguish  Episcopal  Meth- 
odism from  other  ecclesiastical  polities — namely,  the  itinerancy 
and  the  general  superintendency — are  notable  bonds  of  union. 
The  ministers,  passing  regularly  from  charge  to  charge,  are  in- 
fluential, as  servants  of  the  whole  body  of  churches,  to  prevent 
congregational  exclusiveness  or  isolation,  and  promote  oneness 
of  interest  and  endeavor.  As  to  the  itinerant  general  superin- 
tendency, its  superiority,  from  the  standpoint  of  unity,  to  a  dio- 
cesan episcopate,  or  any  other  historic  form  of  episcopal  (not 
papal)  government,  will  hardly  be  denied. 


5i8  Christianity  as  Organized 

(5)  Its  organirscd  aggressiveness.  All  its  forces  may  readily 
be  concentrated,  under  authoritative  personal  leadership,  upon 
home  evangelization,  church  extension,  foreign  missions,  educa- 
tion, temperance,  or  any  other  imperative  Christian  cause.  It  is 
preeminently  a  church  militant,  an  army  under  strong  command, 
ever  on  the  march  or  in  the  field. ^ 

10.   Perils. 

But  an  enlightened  criticism  will  also  charge  Episcopal  Meth- 
odism with  defects  which  show  corresponding  perils : 

( 1 )  Its  connectional  organization  offers  peculiar  temptations  to 
strong-willed  men  or  clever  ecclesiastical  politicians,  whose  spir- 
ituality may  be  corrupted  and  whose  usefulness  more  than  im- 
paired by  the  passion  for  prominence  and  power.  "Every  cowl 
may  dream  of  the  tiara."  Under  a  congregational  government 
the  opportunity  of  ecclesiastical  ambition,  with  its  subtle  self- 
delusions  and  its  fateful  effects,  is  reduced  to  what  would  seem 
to  be  its  lowest  dimensions,  while  under  a  strongly  centralized 
and  officered  government  it  reaches  its  maximum." 

(2)  It  asks  of  its  bishops  and  presiding  elders,  in  making  their 
numerous  nominations  and  appointments,  a  wisdom,  impartiality, 

^"Among  Protestants  we  may  compare  with  our  Churches  the  compact- 
ness and  power  of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  admiring  the  system  and 
energy  which  characterize  the  Methodists,  let  us  not  overlook  the  fact 
that  both  their  Churches  and  individuals  here  and  there  protest  vigorously 
when  their  independence  is  invaded  by  the  power  of  the  governing  body. 
Perhaps  they  show  a  greater  efficiency  in  actual  work,  but  do  they  not  lose 
a  certain  freeness  and  spontaneity?"  (Dargan,  "Ecclesiology,"  p.  144.) 
The  lack  of  "freeness  and  spontaneity"  can  hardly  be  called  a  notable  defect 
of  Methodism,  while  its  "system  and  energy,"  though  very  far  below  what 
they  ought  to  be,  may  nevertheless  be  recognized  as  facts. 

^"For  human  nature  lies  hidden  under  Episcopal  robes,  with  its  steadfast 
inclination  to  abuse  the  power  intrusted  to  it ;  and  the  greater  the  power,  the 
stronger  is  the  temptation  and  the  worse  the  abuse."  (Schaff,  "Church  His- 
ory,"  III.,  288,  289.) 

"If  our  ministers  and  people  should  ever  decline  in  vital  piety,  .  .  . 
the  posts  of  honor  and  of  influence  inseparable  from  our  compact  organiza- 
tion v.'ill  change  to  matters  of  strife,  unknown  to  the  Churches  whose  gov- 
ernment is  less  central  and  vigorous."  (Crane,  "Methodism  and  Its  Meth- 
ods," pp.  44.  45) 


The  Episcopal  Idea:  American  Methodism        519 

and  carefulness  that  must  often  fail  to  be  realized.  A  great  office 
is  easy  enough  to  create,  but — who  shall  fill  it  from  year  to  year? 
It  calls,  and  oftentimes  there  is  no  elect  soul  to  answer. 

(3)  It  may  sometimes  be  compelled  to  break  up  a  pastorate  pre- 
maturely. Take  as  an  example  the  case  of  a  city  church  with 
large  evangelistic  and  missionary  opportunities.  The  plans  of 
the  outgoing  pastor  may  be  disregarded  or  ill  executed  by  his 
successor,  and  the  church's  undertakings  fail  through  lack  of 
continuity  in  able  specialized  leadership. 

(4)  Inefficient  ministers,  who,  if  dei^endent  on  a  call  to  the  pas- 
torship of  a  church,  would  soon  perhaps  find  themselves  out  of 
employment,  and  either  learn  to  do  well  or  cease  to  burden  a  pas- 
toral charge,  may  be  sustained  by  the  itinerant  system  and  im- 
posed upon  a  long  succession  of  suffering  congregations. 

(  5 )  The  frequent  and  inevitable  changes  in  the  pastorate  have 
a  tendency  to  induce  restlessness  and  a  feverish  love  of  novelty 
in  both  minister  and  people.  The  minister  may  not  bear  so  pa- 
tiently with  the  difficulties  of  his  present  situation,  nor  try  so 
faithfully  to  avoid  unpleasant  or  unprofitable  relations  with  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation,  when  he  knows  that  the  next  session 
of  the  Annual  Conference  may  bring  him  relief.  The  people,  on 
their  part,  will  be  equally  lacking  in  forbearance,  and  equally  an- 
ticipative  of  a  new  pastoral  appointment — "having  itching  ears." 

The  expectation  of  a  perfect  ecclesiastical  polity  would  be  as 
vain  as  that  of  a  perfect  language.  Even  the  best  body  of  forms 
and  methods  will  show  certain  defects  of  their  ciualities.  Ad- 
vantage here  will  be  offset  by  somewhat  of  disadvantage  there. 
Nor  could  any  universally  applicable  answer  be  returned  to  the 
question.  What  then  is  the  best  available  form?  But  this  one 
thing  at  least  may  be  accepted  as  undoubtedly  true — namely,  that 
a  church  which  should  gain  the  wisdom  to  organize  itself  in  the 
best  possible  manner  would  bear  the  marks  of  adaptability  no 
less  than  of  strength  and  perpetuity.  Its  organization  would  not 
be  just  the  same  in  one  land  and  in  another,  just  the  same  to- 
day and  to-morrow.    Of  change  for  the  sake  of  change  it  would 


520  Christianity  as  Organised 

indeed  know  nothing,  but  of  change  for  the  sake  of  power  in  a 
changing  environment  it  would  have  an  ever-recurring  experience. 
Not  undervakiing  the  old  nor  yet  shrinking  back  in  timidity 
from  the  new,  it  could  neither  be  described  as  conservative  nor 
as  radical.    It  would  simply  be  athrob  with  life. 


VIII. 
THE  IDEA  OF  DIVINE  RIGHT. 

If  any  one  form  of  government  be  so  prescribed  of  God  as  to 
make  it  universally  obligatory  upon  the  Church,  then,  at  least 
according  to  evangelical  belief,  that  form  of  government  will 
be  found  set  forth  as  obligatory  in  the  New  Testament.  Is  such 
a  polity,  then,  to  be  found  there  ?  This  is  the  question  of  divine 
right  in  church  government. 

Let  us  make  sure  that  the  question  itself  is  perfectly  clear. 
It  is  not  whether  the  Church  is  of  divine  origin.  It  is  not 
whether  the  power  of  government  in  the  Church  is  of  divine 
origin.  It  is  not  whether  any  definite  form  or  forms  of  govern- 
ment are  outlined  in  the  Xew  Testament.  It  is  not  whether 
there  was  originally — that  is  to  say,  in  the  apostolic  age — any 
one  universal  form. 

Nor,  again,  is  it  a  question  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness 
of  any  particular  form  of  church  government  existing  at  the 
present  time.  Anything  is  lawful  that  is  not.  either  directly  or 
by  fair  implication,  prohibited.  It  is  lawful,  for  example,  to 
have  congregational  worship  on  seven  days  or  on  only  two  days 
of  the  week,  to  offer  prayer  according  to  a  written  formulary  or 
to  pray  extempore,  to  preach  with  unity  of  idea  from  a  selected 
passage  of  Scripture  or  simply  to  exhort,  to  employ  instruments 
of  music  or  only  the  human  voice  in  worship,  to  administer 
Christian  baptism  in  a  church  edifice  or  in  the  open  air,  to  kneel 
or  to  sit  or  to  stand  or  to  recline  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Wo. 
ask  concerning  these  things  whether  they  are  expedient,  not 
whether  they  are  lawful.  Similarly  a  mode  of  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment, not  having  been  divinely  prohibited,  may  be  lawful, 
whereas,  not  having  been  divinely  commanded,  it  is  not  man- 
datory.^ 

^Stillingfleet,  "Irenicum,"  Part  I.,  ch.  i. 

(521) 


522  Christianity  as  Organised 

The  question  is,  whether  there  be  satisfactory  proof  that  some 
specific  form  of  church  government,  whatever  it  may  be,  was 
instituted  by  Christ  himself,  either  immediately  in  his  own  spo- 
ken and  recorded  words,  or  mediately  through  the  inspiration  of 
his  Spirit  in  the  mind  of  the  Apostles,  and  thereby  made  manda- 
tory upon  his  followers  throughout  the  world  and  unto  the  end 
of  time. 

The  answer  has  been  chiefly  in  the  affirmative.  Congrega- 
tionalism, Presbyterianism,  Prelacy,  Papacy — for  them  all  alike 
the  exclusive  claim  of  divine  right,  as  shown  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, has  been  put  forth.  Though  it  cannot  be  added  that  the 
boldness  of  the  assertion  has  always  been  nicely  adjusted  to  the 
force  of  the  supporting  argument. 

But  just  here  is  a  distinction  that  ought  to  be  drawn.  It  may 
be  held  that  a  certain  form  of  government  is  essential  to  the  very 
being  of  a  church ;  in  which  case  to  assert  that  it  exists  jure 
divino  is  to  assert  that  there  can  be  no  church  without  it.  This 
is  the  prelatic  and  the  papal  position. 

Or  it  may  be  held  that  no  one  form  of  government  is  essential 
to  the  very  being  of  a  church;  in  which  case  to  say  that  some 
particular  form  is  jure  diz'ino  is  to  assert  that,  while  there  may 
be  a  true  church,  there  cannot  be  a  regularly — i.  e.,  scripturally, 
— organized  church  without  it.  A  Christian  society,  therefore, 
which,  though  possessing  the  gospel  and  the  sacraments,  misses 
the  scriptural  organization  suffers  loss,  but  does  not  thereby  in- 
validate its  title  to  recognition  as  a  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  This 
seems  to  be  the  Low-Church  Episcopal,  the  Presbyterian,  the 
earlier  Congregational,  and  the  Baptist  position.^ 

^"Differences  of  view  in  relation  to  ecclesiastical  polity  need  be  no  bar  to 
mutual  recognition  and  reciprocity.  It  seems  to  us  that  that  should  be  con- 
fessed to  be  a  true  Church  of  Christ,  in  which  His  Spirit  manifests  His 
saving  and  sanctifying  power,  in  which  His  truth  is  professed,  His  Word 
preached,  and  His  ordinances  dispensed;  and  it  may  be  so  confessed  even 
by  those  who  hold  a  theory  of  Church  polity  according  to  which  its  organiza- 
tion is  imperfect  and  irregular."  (Committee  on  Church  Unity  of  the  Pres- 
byterian General  Assembly  in  1887.) 


TJic  Idea  of  Divine  Right  523 

I.  The  Exegetic  Argument. 

Now  the  exegetic  proofs  of  the  claim  of  an  ecclesiastic  divine 
right  are  not  of  the  highest  order.  They  belong  to  that  multi- 
tudinous class  of  well-intentioned  arguments  that  bring  convic- 
tion chiefly  to  those  who  have  it  already,  or  who  for  some  reason 
are  strongly  predisposed  to  receive  it.  It  is  mainly  on  other  than 
exegetic  grounds  that  the  idea  has  been  cherished.  Often  neither 
Scripture  nor  logic  but  some  sentiment  or  desire  has  appeared  as 
father  to  the  thought. 

First  of  all,  perhaps,  is  the  desire  to  have  the  path  of  duty 
and  achievement  clearly  marked  out.  For  would  not  one  be  thus 
spared  the  labor  of  painfully  finding  it  for  one's  self?  I  once 
heard  a  prominent  religious  leader  say:  ''It  will  be  a  blessed  thing 
to  get  to  heaven,  where  we  shall  be  told  what  to  do  and  shall  only 
have  to  do  it."  Xo  more  thinking  and  deciding  for  ourselves: 
to  the  mind  weary  and  perplexed  with  either  speculative  or  prac- 
tical problems,  that  may  seem  indeed  the  essential  joy  of  the 
heavenly  rest.  Let  some  one  whose  authority  is  acknowledged 
and  whose  person  is  revered  utter  his  commands,  and  the  whole 
energy  of  loyal  minds  will  be  employed  in  doing  them.  The 
division  of  mental  energy  between  planning,  originating,  judg- 
ing, and  then  executing  the  plan,  is  wliat  tries  men's  strength. 
It  is  a  sweet  mental  narcotic  that  steals  into  the  soul  of  him  who 
consents  to  say.  Our  form  of  church  government  is  divinely  or- 
dered, and  we  are  not  responsible  except  for  maintaining  it. 

Not  only  is  such  a  sentiment  restful  to  the  mind,  but  it  also 
greatly  exalts  the  organization  of  one's  church  in  one's  own 
eyes.  It  is  in  itself  a  powerful  sentiment:  This  form  that  I  love 
and  am  identified  with  is  of  divine  ordering — a  sacred  trust  from 
Christ  himself.  Not  only  expedient:  that  were  a  feeble  idea  in 
comparison.  Not  only  established  and  existing  as  a  fact:  that 
is  true  even  of  the  political  organizations  under  which  we  live. 
Not  only  ancient,  approved,  agreeable  to  the  Scriptures.  But  of 
direct  divine  right ;  attested  by  the  seal  of  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles; no  human  arrangement,  but  a  tabernacle  built  according  to 
the  pattern  shown  in  the  Mount  of  God.     Is  it  any  wonder  the 


524  Christianity  as  Organized 

feeling  awakened  by  such  a  conception  should  seem  to  be  suffi- 
cient unto  itself? 

Besides,  the  exigencies  of  controversy  have  had  much  to  do 
with  the  maintenance  of  this  high  claim.  Especially  since  the 
spiritual  despotism  of  Rome  was  broken,  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, have  there  been  many  separate  ecclesiastical  bodies  and 
much  controversy.  Each  church  has  contended  for  its  own  right 
to  be.  How  shall  it  make  good  the  contention?  The  short  and 
simple  method  would  be  not  to  show  that  its  constitution  and 
economy  are  reasonable,  or  effective,  or  expedient,  or  in  accord- 
ance with  Scripture  precedent;  but  to  show  that  they  are  scrip- 
turally  authoritative.  And  this  is  the  method  that  has  usually 
been  followed. 

Still  again,  the  controversial  position  that  a  certain  type  of 
church  organization  has  an  exclusive  divine  right  to  be,  is  much 
stronger  practically  than  the  position  that  no  type  of  church  or- 
ganization has  such  a  right.  I  have  heard  baptism  by  immersion 
recommended  to  a  company  of  young  Christians,  on  the  ground 
that,  while  many  persons  who  had  been  baptized  by  sprinkling 
or  pouring  were  troubled  with  doubts  as  to  the  validity  of  their 
baptism,  nobody  baptized  by  immersion  ever  had  such  a  doubt; 
and  that  it  is  good  common  sense  to  choose  that  mode  of  the 
ordinance  which  everybody  acknowledges  as  genuine.  Similarly 
a  Roman  Catholic  priest  might  say  to  men  hesitating  between  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  the  Episcopal  communion :  "Even  Episco- 
palians acknowledge  ours  to  be  a  true  church,  but  we  deny  with 
the  utmost  assurance  that  theirs  is  a  true  church :  choose,  there- 
fore, that  church  about  whose  genuineness  there  is  no  doubt  on 
either  side."  Or  a  similar  bit  of  this  reasoning  {argnmentiim  ad 
tiniorcin)  might  be  used  by  a  Protestant  Episcopal  minister  with 
reference  to  his  own  communion  and  non-episcopal  communions. 
All  such  arguments,  though  not  intellectually  convincing,  are 
adapted  to  practical  effectiveness,  because  of  their  strong  appeal 
to  a  motive  of  self-love — namely,  the  desire  to  be  on  the  safe 
side.  So  the  church  that  asserts  a  divine  right  to  its  organization 
has  a  practical  advantage  over  one  that  denies  all  such  assertions ; 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  525 

for  if  the  former  prove  its  claim,  there  may  be  loss  or  danger  at- 
tendant upon  membership  in  the  latter,  whereas  if  the  latter  make 
good  its  denial,  even  then  the  two  simply  stand  together  on  the 
same  plane,  Who  would  not  prefer  in  everything  to  be  on  the 
safe  side?' 

But  a  not  uncommon  effect  of  controversy  is  to  strengthen 
each  party  in  adherence  to  his  own  views  rather  than  to  over- 
throw the  opposing  proposition.  And  it  has  doubtless  been  so  a 
thousand  times  in  this  case.  The  ecclesiologists  believed  and 
loved  that  which  they  contended  for,  and  grew  stronger  apace 
in  their  convictions. 

2.  A  Priori  Considerations. 

Let  it  not  be  rashly  supposed,  however,  that  no  argument  wor- 
thy of  the  name  has  been  adduced  in  support  of  the  jure  divino 
idea  in  ecclesiastical  polity. 

To  begin  with,  there  is  an  apparent  presumption  in  its  favor. 
Might  we  not  expect  a  priori  that  the  constitution,  offices,  and 
organization  of  the  Church  would  be  given  it,  at  the  beginning, 
by  its  Divine  Founder?  Shall  these  matters,  which  mean  so 
much  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  mission,  be  left  to  the  im- 
perfect wisdom  of  successive  generations  of  men?*     Moreover, 

*"If  therefore  we  did  seek  to  maintain  that  which  most  advantageth  our 
own  cause,  the  very  best  way  for  us  and  the  strongest  against  them  [ec- 
clesiastical opponents]  were  to  hold,  even  as  they  do,  that  in  Scripture 
there  must  needs  be  found  some  particular  form  of  church  polity  which  God 
hath  instituted,  and  which  for  that  very  cause  belongeth  to  all  churches,  to 
all  times.  But  with  any  such  partial  eye  to  respect  ourselves,  and  by  cun- 
ning to  make  those  things  seem  the  truest  which  are  fittest  to  serve  our 
purpose,  is  a  thing  which  we  neither  like  nor  mean  to  follow."  (Hooker, 
"Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  Bk.  III.,  sec.  lo.) 

^"Whether  we  look  abroad  upon  the  symmetry  of  creation  at  large,  or  at 
home  on  the  smallest  arrangement  of  His  hand,  we  see  regulation  designed, 
both  mediately  and  immediately,  by  himself.  And  can  we  beheve  that  he 
would  build  the  most  favored  construction  of  his  hands  with  accident  and 
confusion  allowed,  as  men  left  to  themselves  have  always  built  toward  heaven 
since  they  were  confounded  on  the  plains  of  Shinar?"  (McGill,  "Church 
Government,"  p.  27.)  But  such  a  mode  of  putting  the  question  disregards, 
among  other  things,  the  difference  between  the  Divine  method  in  the  natural 
creation  and  in  the  sphere  of  moral  personalities. 


526  Christianity  as  Organised 

have  we  not  here  a  prototype  in  the  Old  Testament?  Was  not 
the  Church  of  Israel  organized  and  governed  according  to  a  rev- 
elation from  God?  Was  not  the  law  that  came  through  Moses 
ecclesiastical  as  well  as  moral?  Let  us,  then,  in  like  manner 
look  to  the  New  Testament  for  the  organic  form  no  less  than 
the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Still  further,  if  the  Scriptures 
be  taken  as  a  divinely  authorized  teaching  of  doctrines  and  mor- 
als, why  not  also  as  a  divinely  authorized  teaching  of  structural 
Christianity? 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that  we  find  such  presup- 
positions quite  unable  to  bear  the  test  of  an  impartial  scrutiny. 
It  is  a  very  inexperienced  theologian  that  will  ascribe  any  great 
worth  to  a  priori  ideas  as  to  what  kind  of  revelation  God  must 
have  given  us  in  the  Bible — what  we  shall  and  what  we  shall  not 
find  in  this  revealed  Law  and  Testimony.  Only  confusion  is 
wrought  by  reading  into  the  Bible  our  own  ideas  as  to  what  the 
Bible  ought  to  be.  Rather  let  us  learn  what  is  is.  For  "who 
hath  directed  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  or  being  his  counselor  hath 
taught  him?"  Should  we  have  expected,  for  example,  that  the 
Old  Testament  would  lay  down  directions  both  clear  and  explicit 
concerning  the  use  of  meats,  and  make  no  clear  and  explicit  dis- 
closure of  the  future  life? 

Again,  the  presumption  that  a  divine  authorization  of  a  fixed 
ecclesiastical  structure  in  Israel  will  be  reproduced  in  Christiani- 
ty loses  all  its  force  when  the  difference  between  the  two  great 
eras  in  the  Church's  history  are  borne  in  mind.^  Israel,  being  but 
a  child,  had  to  be  taught  and  directed  as  a  child :  Christianity  is 


^"If  when  the  limits  of  the  Church  were  a  solitary  nation  the  form  of 
her  government  was  ordained  with  awful  sanction  by  her  Head,  now,  when 
she  is  expansive  as  the  globe,  embracing  in  her  mission  every  kindred,  nation, 
tongue,  and  people,  must  we  not  have  a  similar  economy  provided  by  the 
same  adorable  Supremacy?"  (McGill,  "Church  Government,"  p.  31.)  But 
does  not  the  fact  of  the  w^orld-wide  extension  of  the  Church  make  a  divinely 
prescribed  and  invariable  form  of  government  less  rather  than  more  likely 
than  in  the  case  of  a  single  little  nation  set  apart,  in  her  intellectual  and  re- 
ligious chilhood,  "under  guardians  and  stewards  until  the  term  appointed 
of  the  father?" 


TJic  Idea  of  Divine  Right  527 

spiritual  manhood,  freedom,  responsibility.  The  child  is  gov- 
erned predominantly  by  rules ;  the  man,  by  principles.  So  there 
was  much  in  Israel  which,  while  preparatory  to  Christianity, 
could  not  be  prototypical  of  it.  Take,  as  an  example,  the  union 
of  Church  and  State ;  or  the  elaborate  and  minutely  prescribed 
system  of  public  worship:  or  the  "bleeding-  bird  and  bleeding 
beast''  ofifered  in  daily  sacrifice.  Did  these  institutions  forecast, 
unless  indeed  by  way  of  antithesis,  the  constitution  and  ritual  of 
the  Church  of  the  New  Covenant  ?  The  book  of  Leviticus  has 
no  congener  among  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

As  to  the  analogical  argument  drawn  from  the  divinely  re- 
vealed doctrines  and  morals  of  Scripture,  its  force  is  neutralized 
by  the  consideration  that  doctrines  and  morals  being  always  and 
everywhere  the  same,  may  be  delivered  to  men  by  the  Spirit  of 
truth  once  for  all ;  while  world-wnde  experience  has  shown  that 
there  is  no  one  form  of  government,  in  either  Church  or  State, 
that  is  best  for  all  peoples,  under  all  circumstances,  and  through 
the  successive  centuries  and  millenniums  of  human  history.^ 

Some  controvertists,  also,  have  ventured  to  assert  that  a  divine- 
ly prescribed  and  unchangeable  form  is  necessary  to  good  gov- 
ernment in  the  Church ;  that  the  absence  of  it  must  result  in  an- 
archic confusion  and  an  open  door  to  all  doctrinal  errors.     Such 

'"God  never  ordained  anything  that  could  be  bettered.  Yet  many  things 
he  hath  [ordained]  that  have  been  changed,  and  that  for  the  better.  That 
which  succeedeth  as  better  now  when  change  is  requisite  had  been  worst 
when  that  which  now  is  changed  was  instituted.  .  .  .  There  is  no  reason 
in  the  world  wherefore  we  should  esteem  it  as  necessary  always  to  do  as 
always  to  believe  the  same  things ;  seeing  every  man  knoweth  that  the  mat- 
ter of  faith  is  constant,  the  matter  contrariwise  of  action  daily  changeable, 
especially  the  matter  of  action  belonging  unto  Church  Polity."  (Hooker, 
"Ecc.  Polity,"  Bk.  III.,  sec.  10.) 

"If  v/hen  monarchical  ideas  were  dominant  in  the  state,  the  primitive 
church  adopted  an  Episcopal  form  of  government,  it  does  not  follow  that 
episcopacy  is  the  best  polity  in  a  democratic  age.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
little  groups  of  believers  were  organized  on  the  Congregational  plan  in  the 
early  days  when  the  infant  church  could  count  but  few  adherents,  it  does 
not  follow  that  that  form  of  polity  is  the  one  best  fitted  to  organize  the  uni- 
versal Church  and  to  conduct  world-wide  activities."  (Hyde,  "Outlines  of 
Social  Theology,"  pp.  199,  200.) 


528  Christianity  as  Organised 

an  argument,  besides  being  ill  supported  by  the  facts  to  which  it 
makes  appeal,  is  unwarrantably  distrustful  of  the  intellectual 
capacity  of  the  Lord's  people  and  the  promised  leadership  of  the 
Spirit  of  truth.  For  what  is  a  church?  Christian  learners,  with 
the  pledged  presence  of  the  Master  in  the  midst  for  perpetual 
guidance  and  grace/ 

But  let  us  listen  now  to  the  exegetic  arguments.  This  partic- 
ular form  of  government  is  authoritatively  set  forth  in  the  New 
Testament  as  universal  and  unchangeable:  that  is  the  proposition 
which  is  to  be  proved  in  the  interest  of  the  Congregational,  or 
the  Presbyterian,  or  the  Prelatic,  or  the  Papal  idea  of  ecclesias- 
tical polity. 

The  literature  of  the  subject  is  abundant  enough ;  but  our  re- 
view of  the  courses  of  proof  must  needs  be  extremely  brief. 

3.  The  Congregational  Argument. 

It  is  maintained  that  in  the  New  Testament  no  general  church 
government  is  recognized ;  that  each  local  congregation  is  inde- 
pendent of  all  others,  and  is  governed  by  the  vote  of  the  people. 
The  principal  passages  adduced  in  proof  are  the  following:  As 
to  discipline,  in  Matthew  xviii.  17  our  Lord  teaches  that  it  is  to 
be  exercised  by  "the  church,"  and  in  i  Corinthians  v.  3-5,  13, 
and  2  Corinthians  ii.  6  we  have  an  instance  of  this  congrega- 
tional discipline;  as  to  election  of  officers,  Acts  i.  15-26  and  vi. 
2-6  show  that,  in  the  case  of  choosing  a  successor  to  the  traitor- 

^"Equally  detrimental  to  the  soundness  of  saving  truth,  and  even  the 
liberty  with  which  Christ  has  made  us  free,  is  the  opposite  and  comparatively 
unhistorical  extreme  of  anarchy  in  church  government,  claiming  that  no 
polity  is  given  in  the  Bible,  and  that  expediency  is  all  we  have  by  divine  right 
for  any  constructure  of  ecclesiastical  form.  Observation  assures  us  that 
false  doctrines  grow  up  hke  a  thicket  in  all  such  ungoverned  localities,  and 
that  churchly  communism  will  choke  even  its  own  freedom  with  vapors  of  the 
worst  intolerance."  (McGill,  "Church  Government,"  pp.  29,  30.)  But  the 
Lutheran  and  the  Methodist  Churches,  to  cite  no  others,  organized  dis- 
tinctly on  the  basis  which  the  author  here  thoughtlessly  describes  as  "anarchy 
in  church  government,"  seem  as  far  as  possible  from  "churchly  communism," 
and  have  never  yet,  I  believe,  suffered  a  distinctly  doctrinal  division. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  'Right  5-9 

apostle  and  of  choosing  the  Seven,  the  election  was  by  the  entire 
congregation;  and  as  to  legislation,  in  Acts  xv.  4,  22,  23  we  learn 
that  the  council  which  decided  upon  the  regulations  to  be  im- 
posed upon  the  Gentile  converts  was  composed,  not  of  the  rep- 
resentatives of  a  number  of  churches,  but  of  the  one  church  of 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  this  church  acted  not  through 
representatives  or  officers  of  any  kind  but  as  an  assembled  con- 
gregation. Apostles,  elders,  brethren. 

It  is  further  maintained  that  those  passages  which,  if  they 
stood  alone,  might  suggest  a  different  mode  of  government  (as, 
for  instance,  Acts  xiv.  23,  i  Timothy  v.  22,  Titus  i.  5),  may  all 
be  understood  consistently  with  the  passages  which  decisively 
teach  congregational  government. 

It  is  still  further  maintained  that  this  polity,  as  it  appears  in 
the  New  Testament,  is  a  binding  precedent  to  be  perpetually  fol- 
lowed by  all  the  churches  of  Christ  throughout  the  world. 
"Such,"  it  is  held,  "was  the  Church  He  organized,  and  such  He 
requires  his  Church  still  to  be.  He  may  bear  for  a  time  with 
deviations  from  his  plan ;  but  he  cannot  approve  them,  he  cannot 
give  them  his  sanction.  .  .  .  The  Church  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  our  pattern  tabernacle  in  the  Mount.  No  deviation  is 
allowed ;  not  the  least. "^  It  was  a  point  on  which  synods  and 
individual  theologians  were  well  agreed.  The  Cambridge  Plat- 
form, adopted  by  a  synod  of  the  New  England  Congregational 
churches  in  1648,  explicitly  pronounces  that  "the  parts  of  church 
government  are  all  of  them  exactly  described  in  the  word  of 
God.  and  therefore  to  continue  one  and  the  same,  unto  the  ap- 
pearing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  declares  that  therefore 
"it  is  not  left  in  the  power  of  men,  officers,  churches,  or  any  state 

^Sawyer,  "Organic  Christianity,"  p.  92. 

The  divine  right  of  Congregationalism  is  very  pronounced  in  the  ec- 
clesiologic  teaching  of  Nathaniel  Emmons,  the  first  article  of  v^hich  as 
epitomized  by  Dr.  D.  M.  Dexter  is  the  following:  "i.  A  specific  form  of 
church  government  was  instituted  by  Christ  in  the  eighteenth  of  Matthew — 
which  is  Congregationalism."  (Dexter,  "Congregationalism  as  Seen  in  Its 
Literature,"  pp.  507,  5o8.) 

34 


530  Christianity  as  Organised 

in  the  world,  to  add,  diminish,  or  alter  anything  in  the  least 
measure  therein."^ 

Now  the  congregational  independence  of  the  apostolic  church- 
es may  be  accepted  as  a  reasonably  certain  historic  fact.  There 
is  good  evidence  of  their  intercongregational  unification  in  faith 
and  experience  as  a  Christian  fraternity;  but  there  is  no  good 
evidence  of  their  consolidation  under  a  common  government. 

That  each  congregation,  however,  was  governed  simply  and 
solely  by  the  vote  of  the  people  has  not  been  made  clear.  As  to 
jMatthew  xviii.  17,  the  case  to  which  our  Lord's  instructions 
here  apply  is  not  that  of  an  ordinary  church  trial:  it  is  a  case 
of  interposition  on  the  part  of  the  church,  at  the  request  of  a 
wronged  brother,  with  the  aim  of  reconciling  the  offender. 

In  connection  with  the  excommunication  of  the  immoral 
church  member  by  the  Corinthian  congregation,  the  directions  of 
the  apostle  Paul  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  which  seem  to  give  the 
pastor  special  authority  in  cases  of  discipline,  might  be  quoted.^ 

From  the  facts  that  the  disciples  in  the  "upper  room,"  await- 
ing Pentecost,  elected  Matthias  (by  lot)  as  a  vice-apostle,  to  com- 
plete the  original  number  of  the  chosen  witnesses  of  the  Resur- 
rection, and  that  the  whole  multitude  of  disciples  in  Jerusalem 
elected  the  Seven  to  be  set  apart  to  a  ministry,  not  of  the  word, 
nor  of  pastoral  oversight,  but  of  "tables,"  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  elders  who  were  ordained  by  the  Apostles  and  others  were 
also  selected  by  the  votes  of  the  people.'  They  may  have  been. 
What  little  we  know  of  the  customs  of  the  sub-apostolic  age 

^Cambridge  Platform,  Ch.  L,  3. 

*i  Tim.  iii.  1-13;  v.  19,  20;  Titus  i.  5-9;  iii,  10.  I  should  not  venture  to 
say,  with  some,  that  "the  regulations  about  the  character  to  be  required  in 
bishops  and  deacons  imply  that  Timothy  was  in  a  position  to  appoint  them;" 
but  it  strongly  suggests  that  he  had  much  to  do  with  their  appointment — say, 
the  power  of  nomination  or  of  veto. 

And  surely  the  authority  not  to  receive  an  accusation  against  an  elder, 
except  at  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses,  and  to  reprove  him,  if  found 
guilty,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  congregation,  and,  in  the  case  of  Titus, 
to  admonish  and  after  a  second  admonition  "refuse"  a  factious  man,  mean 
something  more  than  the  mere  chairmanship  of  the  congregational  meeting. 

*Acts  xiv.  23;  I  Tim.  v.  22;  Titus  i.  5. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  531 

fa-vors  the  supposition.  But  the  inference  that  it  must  have  been 
so  is  no  more  justifiable  a  conckision  than  is  the  contrary  infer- 
ence, that  if  it  were  so  some  distinct  mention  would  have  been 
made  of  the  fact. 

In  Acts  XV,  it  is  related  that  when  the  great  cjuestion  as  to 
the  conditions  of  the  salvation  of  others  than  the  Jewish  people 
arose  in  Antioch  a  delegation  was  sent  *'to  Jerusalem  unto  the 
Apostles  and  ciders  about  this  matter,"  Does  it  seem  likely  that 
the  Apostles  and  elders  would  commit  the  decision  of  it  to  the 
whole  membership  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  instead  of  accept- 
ing it  as  their  own  responsibility?  Nor  do  we  read  that  the  de- 
cision of  the  matter  was  committed  to  the  whole  church,  but  only 
that  they  were  present  to  hear  the  statement  of  it  by  the  brethren 
from  Antioch  (v.  4),  and  were  associated  with  the  Apostles  and 
elders  in  choosing  messengers  to  convey  the  letter  containing  the 
decision  to  the  church  in  Antioch  (v.  22).  It  is  possible,  in- 
deed, that  the  "brethren"  gave  a  full  and  formal  vote,  and  thus, 
constituting  as  they  did  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  assembly, 
decided  the  cjuestion;  but  it  may  rather  be  supposed  that  they 
only  approved  of  the  decision  of  the  Apostles  and  elders.  And 
this  supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  record  in  Acts  xvi.  4, 
that  as  Paul  and  Silas  went  through  Asia  Minor  they  "deliv- 
ered them  the  decrees  to  keep  which  had  been  ordained  by  the 
Apostles  and  elders  that  were  at  Jerusalem." 

Again,  the  Congregational  argument  does  but  scant  justice  to 
the  office  of  the  Apostles — of  Paul,  for  example,  taking  upon 
himself  anxiety  for  all  the  churches,  and  appointing  Timothy 
and  Titus  as  his  deputies  to  ordain  presbyters  and  to  set  things 
in  order  in  their  respective  fields  of  labor.  For  the  apostolate 
may  c[uite  reasonably  be  regarded  as  indicating  more  than  the 
local  and  temporary  need  of  a  general  superintendency.  It  may 
be  taken  as  giving  sanction  to  some  form  of  subsequent  epis- 
copal oversight. 

The  argument  fails  also,  and  more  conspicuously,  to  do  justice 
to  the  administration  of  government  by  presbyters  in  the  New 
Testament  churches.     For  it  is  extremly  difficult  to  identify  the 


532  Christianity  as  Organised 

one  elder,  or  pastor — the  one-man  ministry — of  a  modern  Con- 
gregationalist  or  Baptist  church  with  the  board  of  elders  that 
presided  in  at  least  some  of  the  New  Testament  churches.' 

But  even  were  it  indubitably  proved  both  that  all  the  apostolic 
churches  were  independent  of  each  other,  and  that  they  were  all 
under  strictly  popular  government,  the  conclusion  would  not  fol- 
low that  the  same  form  of  administration  and  no  other  is  in- 
cumbent on  every  congregation  in  the  Church  of  Christ  of  every 
land  and  age.  The  implied  major  premise  (if  a  technical  term 
be  permitted) — namely,  that  the  mode  of  government  in  the 
Neiv  Testament  Churches  is  obligatory  upon  all  churches — not 
being  a  self-evident  proposition,  must  be  proved;  and  no  proof 
has  yet  been  discovered. 

It  will  not  do  simply  to  insist  that  we  ought  to  follow  New 
Testament  precedents.  For  no  one  will  say  that  we  ought  to 
follow  them  all ;  and  so  the  question  will  arise  concerning  any 
one  of  them,  Is  this  a  binding  precedent?  Many,  indeed,  are 
the  New  Testament  usages,  real  or  supposed,  that  have  been 
taken  by  Christian  churches  at  one  time  and  another  as  binding 
precedents.  Thus  have  been  adopted  and  enforced  such  observ- 
ances or  ofifices  as  the  casting  of  lots,  feet-washing,  the  ofifice  of 
teacher  as  distinct  from  that  of  preacher  or  pastor,  baptism  in 
running  water,  the  kiss  of  charity,  the  weekly  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  anointing  the  sick  with  oil,  the  plural  eldership, 
the  office  of  ruling  elder  as  distinct  from  teaching  elder.  In  like 
manner  the  love  feast  of  the  apostolic  churches  might  be  fol- 
lowed as  a  binding  precedent ;  and  so  might  still  other  customs 
of  the  earliest  Christian  age.  But  are  all  or  any  of  these  in- 
tended as  authoritative  examples  showing  what  must  be  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Church  in  all  places  and  in  all  ages?  "When  Scrip- 
ture doth  yield  us  precedents,"  saith  Richard  Hooker,  "how  far 
forth  they  are  to  be  followed,  this  must  be  by  reason  found 
out."^     Otherwise,  fanaticism  may  find  opportunity. 

^Ladd,  "Principles  of  Church  Polity,"  pp.  25-29,  215. 

*"The  binding  nature  of  New  Testament  precedent  and  of  apostolic  ap- 
pointments cannot  be  dismissed  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  as  if  these  appoint- 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  533 

True,  it  is  an  unceasing  Christian  endeavor  and  joy  in  such  a 
matter  to  imitate  apostoHc  example.  But  to  imitate  is  not  to 
copy.  It  is  oftener  to  do  something  different.  It  is  to  open 
one's  mind  to  a  truth,  and  one's  heart  to  a  spirit,  made  real 
through  some  personality.  It  is  not  to  reproduce  a  form.  Wide 
is  the  distinction  between  a  Scripture  principle  and  a  Scripture 
precedent.  The  principle  is  regulative;  the  precedent,  interpre- 
tative. 

But  this  idea  of  di\'ine  right  in  church  government,  it  must  be 
added,  is  not  characteristic  of  the  Congregationalism  of  the 
present  generation.  It  is  a  faith  of  the  fathers  that  has  been 
outgrown.  The  Congregational  churches  of  to-day  do  not  take 
the  churches  of  the  apostolic  age  as  the  absolutely  authoritative 
pattern  after  which  all  their  successors  must  be  modeled,  in  our 
own  age  and  in  every  other.  Nor  do  they  find  in  any  word  of 
the  New  Testament,  either  directly  or  inferentially,  a  prescribed 
form  of  government  for  the  Church  universal.  They  only  pro- 
fess to  see  in  their  own  economy  a  more  satisfactory  embodiment 
of  the  principles  of  the  New  Testament  than  in  any  other,^ 

Nor  has  Congregationalism  refused  communion  with  the 
churches  outside  its  own  order.  Robert  Browne,  its  eccentric 
founder,  did  so ;  but  in  this  he  has  never  had  an  appreciable  fol- 

ments  were  appropriate  only  in  the  apostolic  age."  (Dargan,  "Ecclesiology," 
p.  22.)  But  neither  can  it  be  assumed.  It  calls  for  proof.  It  is  not,  indeed, 
to  be  "dismissed  with  a  wave  of  the  hand,"  but  just  as  certainly  it  "must 
be  by  reason  found  out." 

^"There  is  no  form  of  church  government  authoritatively  set  forth  to 
be  followed  by  any  or  b}^  all  the  followers  of  Christ.  A  careful  reading  of 
the  early  records  shows  a  method  then  followed  corresponding  more  nearly 
to  the  congregational  way  than  to  any  other."  ( Boynton,  "The  Congrega- 
tional Way,"  p.  29.) 

"We  have  no  objection  to  a  number  of  churches  organizing  under  a 
bishop  of  their  own  appointment,  to  whom  a  large  amount  of  responsibility 
for  their  general  conduct  shall  be  given.  Indeed,  we  can  see  under  many 
conditions  how  this  may  be  proper  and  wise.  Nor  do  we  know  of  any 
reason  why  it  is  not  allowable  for  individual  churches  to  put  authority,  which 
they  might  not  think  it  best  to  exercise  alone,  into  the  hands  of  the  whole 
or  of  a  group."  (Ibid.,  p.  17.  See,  to  the  same  effect,  Ladd,  "Principles  of 
Church  Polity,"  pp.  9,  10.) 


534  CJirisfianify  as  Organised 

lowing.  Pastor  John  Robinson  and  his  congregation  at  Leyden, 
for  example,  though  Brownists  rather  than  Barrowists,  stood 
for  fellowship  with  other  Christian  churches.  So  with  Con- 
gregationalists  generally  from  that  day  till  now.  To  deny  the 
validity  of  either  the  ministry  or  the  sacraments  of  their  sister 
churches  would  be  alien  to  both  their  creed  and  their  spirit. 
They  are  catholic,  not  sectarian.  In  fact,  they  are  conspicuously 
in  sympathy  with  the  forces  of  American  Christianity  that  are 
making  for  cooperation  and  unity.'' 

4.  The  Presbyterian  Argument. 

It  is  probable  that  many  Presbyterians  would  not  claim  more 
for  their  polity  than  that  it  is  most  excellent  and  entirely  agree- 
able to  the  Scriptures."    But  the  jure  divino  theory  of  ecclesias- 

^"Thus  recognizing  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all  the  world 
and  knowing  that  we  are  but  one  branch  of  Christ's  people,  while  adhering 
to  our  own  peculiar  faith  and  order,  we  extend  to  all  believers  the  hand 
of  Christian  fellowship  upon  the  basis  of  those  great  fundamental  truths 
in  which  all  Christians  should  agree."  (Declaration  of  Faith  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  of  Congregational  Churches,  June  14-24,  1865.) 

^"It  is  affirmed  by  some  that  this  form  of  Church  government  is  au- 
thoritatively and  exclusively  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures;  that  it  is  therefore 
of  universal  obligation,  and  that  no  other  is  of  Divine  right.  They  claim 
to  be  'jure  divino  Presbyterians.'  The  great  body  of  Presbyterians,  how- 
ever, are  content  to  claim  simply  that  their  views  are  clearly  sanctioned  by 
Scripture."  (Dr.  E.  F.  Hatfield,  in  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Art.  "Pres- 
byterianism.") 

Take,  for  example,  three  eminent  Presbyterian  authorities  of  Scotland 
and  America : 

"As  to  ecclesiastical  administration,  the  New  Testament  supplies  us 
neither  with  a  definite  form  of  polity  nor  with  a  directory  of  worship;  and 
it  is  only  when  we  perceive  that  it  was  not  its  purpose  to  do  so  that  we 
rise  to  the  idea  of  the  unity  and  spirituality  of  the  Church  as  the  Apostles 
conceived  it."     (Forrest,  "The  Christ  of  History  and  of  Experience,"  p.  286.) 

"Such  was  the  contribution  of  Jesus  toward  the  shaping  of  the  future 
character  of  his  Church.  He  provided  for  it  no  ecclesiastical  constitution, 
issued  no  authoritative  instructions  concerning  forms  of  church  government, 
clerical  offices  and  orders,  or  even  worship."  (Bruce,  "The  Kingdom  of 
God,"  p.  270.) 

"As  there  is  no  definite  form  of  church  government  prescribed  in  the 
precepts  of  Christ,  neither  is  there  any  enacted  in  the  example  of  the  Apostles. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  535 

tical  organization  is  the  theory  of  Presbytcrianism  as  such.  It 
is  true  that  in  the  Form  of  Government  adopted  by  the  West- 
minster Assembly  no  higher  claim  is  made  for  presbyterial  or- 
der than  that  it  "is  lawful  and  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God." 
But  this  is  not  because  it  was  entitled  to  no  higher  claim  in  the 
minds  of  probably  a  large  majority  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  be- 
cause the  Assembly  was  legislating  in  an  irenic  spirit — trying  to 
avoid  all  possible  offense  to  Episcopacy  and  Independency.  It  is 
certain  that  the  divine  right  of  Presbytery  was  strongly  main- 
tained in  that  day.  "I  dare  assure  myself,"  said  John  Milton  in 
the  earlier  part  of  his  controversial  career,  "that  every  true  Prot- 
estant, .  .  .  even  for  the  reason  of  it  so  coherent  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  beside  the  evidence  of  command  in  Scrip- 
ture, will  confess  it  to  be  the  only  true  church  government."^ 
And  such  a  confession  has  been  made,  though  not  by  "every  true 
Protestant,"  both  personally  and  officially,  unto  the  present  time.^ 

.  .  .  No  man  can  deduce  any  of  the  existing  forms  of  church  govemment 
in  their  detailed  arrangements,  or  even  in  their  distinctive  features,  from  the 
facts  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  nor  from  the  precepts  given  in 
the  Epistles;  and  the  wisest  expositors  have  given  up  the  hopeless  attempt." 
(Van  Dyke,  "The  Church:  Her  Ministry  and  Sacraments,"  p.  52.) 

^Cf.  Morris,  "Theology  of  the  Westminster  Symbols,"  p.  636;  Fairbairn, 
"Studies  in  Religion  and  Theology,"  p.  153. 

A  line  of  presbyterial  ordinations  from  the  Apostles  was  also  asserted  and 
emphasized.  The  Provincial  Assembly  of  London  in  1654  declared,  for  exam- 
ple :  "Our  ministry  is  derived  to  us  from  Christ  and  his  Apostles  by  suc- 
cession of  a  ministry  continued  in  the  Church  for  1,600  years.  We  have 
(i)  a  lineal  succession  from  Christ  and  his  Apostles."  (Briggs,  "American 
Presbytcrianism,"  pp.  3,  68-71.) 

*"That  our  blessed  Saviour  .  .  .  hath  appointed  officers  not  only  to 
preach  the  gospel  and  administer  the  sacraments,  but  also  to  exercise  dis- 
cipline. .  .  .  The  ordinary  and  perpetual  officers  in  the  Church  are 
Bishops  or  Pastors;  the  representatives  of  the  people,  usually  styled  Ruling 
Elders;  and  Deacons."  (Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  chaps.  I.  iii.  and  III.  ii.) 

"Christ,  as  King,  has  given  to  his  Church  officers,  oracles,  and  ordinances ; 
and  especially  has  he  ordained  therein  his  system  of  doctrine,  government, 
discipline,  and  worship;  all  which  are  either  expressly  set  down  in  Scripture 
or  by  good  and  necessary  consequence  mny  be  deduced  therefrom ;  and  to 
which  things  he  commands  that  nothing  be  added,  and  that  from  them  naught 


53^  Christianity  as  Organized 

In  the  application,  however,  of  the  three  laws — the  parity  of 
the  ministry,  the  right  of  the  people  to  a  part  in  church  govern- 
ment, and  the  governmental  unity  of  the  Church — that  are  be- 
lieved to  be  authoritatively  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament, 
there  is  considerable  divergence  of  view.  Some  would  regard 
them  as  a  more  exclusive  system  than  do  others.  That  is  to  say, 
some  would  act  on  the  principle  that  nothing  may  be  done  but 
what  is  either  directly  or  by  fair  inference  commanded;  others, 
that  anything  may  be  done  but  what  is  either  directly  or  by  fair 
inference  forbidden.  Dr.  John  H.  Thornwell,  for  example,  op- 
posed, with  all  the  force  of  his  keen  logic  and  fervent  eloquence, 
the  organization  of  missionary  boards,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  provided  for  in  Scripture ;  while  Dr.  Charles  Hbdge 
approved  them  as  expedient  institutions  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  forbidden  by  any  of  the  three  New  Testament  laws  of 
church  organization.^     This  broader  view  is  the  more  prevalent. 

Presbyterianism  has  much  to  say  that  is  strong  and  Scriptural 
on  behalf  of  its  polity.  It  finds  government  by  elders  in  ancient 
Israel,  in  the  Jewish  synagogue,  and  in  the  apostolic  churches. 
It  finds  the  Apostles  themselves  to  have  been  elders;^  and  hence 
to  "inquire  of  the  Apostles  and  elders"  about  the  proper  rules 
for  Gentile  converts^ — was  it  not  to  inquire  of  a  presbyter}^? 
On  the  very  first  great  missionary  tour  Paul  and  Barnabas  "or- 
dained elders  in  every  church,"*  and  later  Paul  left  Titus  in 
Crete  that  he  might  "ordain  elders  in  every  city."""     In  Hebrews 

be  taken  away."  (Book  of  Church  Order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  Par.  lO.) 

"Such  order  and  ordinances  as  the  very  nature  of  the  Church  called  for, 
and  because  such  as  the  nature  of  the  Church  called  for,  were  ordained  from 
the  first  as  to  their  substance,  and  as  to  their  form  modified  during  the 
progressive  steps  of  the  revelation,  under  the  direct  administration  of  the 
King  in  Zion,  and  through  men  immediately  inspired,  until  their  forms  were 
fixed  and  left  to  be  permanent  at  the  close  of  the  revelation."  (Stuart 
Robinson,  "The  Church  of  God,"  pp.  121,  122.) 

^Thornwell's  Collected  Writings,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  217-241,  and  Appendix,  B. 
See  pp.  403,  404. 

*i  Pet.  V.  I ;  2  John  i.  *Acts  xiv.  *Acts  xiv.  23.  ^Titus  i.  5. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  537 

we  read,  "Remember  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,"^  and  in 
Timothy,  "Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  all 
honor;"*  wherefrom  it  would  appear  that  the  presbytery  were 
the  rulers. 

Concerning-  this  theory  it  must  be  said,  on  the  other  hand, 
that,  like  that  of  Congregationalism,  it  sees  no  governmental 
significance  in  the  apostolate.  Also,  the  passage,  "Especially 
those  who  labor  in  the  word  and  in  teaching,"*  upon  which  it 
rests  the  constitutional  distinction  between  ruling  elders  and 
teaching  elders,  as  two  distinct  and  permanent  classes  of  church 
officers,  is  unable  to  bear  the  weight  of  so  large  an  inference. 
Still  again,  Paul's  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  seem  to  show  that, 
in  their  church,  discipline  was  administered  not  by  elders — of 
whom  he  makes  no  mention  at  all — but  by  the  congregation  as 
a  whole.  It  is  impossible  here  to  find  any  semblance  of  govern- 
ment by  a  presbytery. 

Difficult  also  is  it  to  find  in  the  New  Testament  the  form  in 
which  Presbyterianism  embodies  the  truth  of  the  unity  of  the 
Church — namely,  a  series  of  courts  by  which  a  part  of  the  Church 
is  brought  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  larger  part,  and  all  parts 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  whole.  The  most  that  has  been 
said  for  it  exegetically  is  that  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
other  cities,  such  as  Antioch  and  Corinth,  is  spoken  of  in  the 
singular  number,  and  yet,  being  so  large,  it  must  have  consisted 
of  several  congregations  ;*  that  the  meeting  in  Jerusalem  to  con- 
sider the  cjuestion  of  Gentile  church  membership,  has  some  ap- 
pearance of  a  council  of  elders  from  more  than  one  congrega- 
tion;* that  Paul  speaks  of  the  Church  as  one  body  "fitly  framed 
and  knit  together,  through  that  which  every  joint  supplieth," 

^Ch.  xiii.  7.     Cf.  I  Thess.  v.  12;  Rom.  xii.  8.       '1  Tim.  v.  17. 

^Ibid.  ■'Acts  viii.  i;  iv.  4;  vi.  i. 

*"We  are  bound  to  connect  in  a  common  representation  the  churches  of 
a  populous  community,  in  town  or  country,  to  be  called  Church  in  the  singu- 
lar number,  as  they  called  the  churches  of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch,  respective- 
ly, and  also  to  summon  general  assemblies  for  the  care  of  such  collective  ec- 
clesia,  as  they  did  at  a  council  at  Jerusalem,  to  decide  on  the  reference  from 
Antioch."     (McGill,  "Church  Government,"  pp.  44,  45.) 


53^  Christianity  as  Organised 

and  that  its  bands  and  joints  may  not  impossibly  be  supposed  to 
be  a  series  of  church  courts;  and  that  the  practice  of  the  Apos- 
tles shows  that  in  their  conception  the  Church  is  one. 

The  conclusion  in  which  most  minds  that  are  under  no  pressure 
to  maintain  a  thesis  on  the  subject  would  probably  agree,  is 
that  the  government  of  the  apostolic  churches  by  presbyters  only, 
and  their  confederation  under  a  general  presbyterial  government, 
may  be  accepted  as  a  doubtful  hypothesis,  but  is  by  no  means 
made  good,  by  the  proofs  adduced,  as  a  historic  certainty. 

And  still  we  must  ask  as  before :  Supposing  the  presbyterial 
system  and  no  other  were  proved  as  obtaining  in  ancient  Israel 
and  under  apostolic  guidance  in  the  first  Christian  churches,  does 
that  alone  make  it  mandatory  forever?  Would  it  be  schism  and 
sectarianism  for  a  Christian  congregation,  one  hundred  or  two 
thousand  years  afterwards,  and  under  widely  different  condi- 
tions, to  organize  itself,  for  what  seemed  to  be  conclusive  rea- 
sons, under  some  other  form?    Would  it  even  be  "irregular?" 

Presbyterianism  might  answer  such  a  question  affirmatively. 
Nevertheless,  even  in  its  straitest  school,  it  would  not  unchurch 
its  sister  churches.  Because  it  holds  that  wherever  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  abides  and  the  truth  of  the  gospel  is  practiced,  there  is  a 
true  church  of  Christ,  however  irregular  and  imperfect  in  out- 
ward form.  Its  confession  is  that  the  Scripture  type  of  organi- 
zation is  necessary  not  to  the  being  but  only  to  the  perfection  of 
a  church.^ 

^"To  refuse  to  recognize  as  a  Church  of  Christ  any  body  of  associated 
believers  united  for  the  purposes  of  worship  and  discipline,  can  be  justified 
only  on  the  ground  that  some  particular  form  of  organization  has  by  Divine 
authority  been  made  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  Church.  And  if  essen- 
tial to  the  existence  of  the  Church,  it  must  be  essential  to  the  existence  of 
piety  and  to  the  presence  and  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Ubi  Spiritus 
Sanctus  ibi  Ecclcsia  is  a  principle  founded  upon  the  Scriptures  and  held 
sacred  by  evangelical  Christians  in  all  ages."     (Hodge,  "Church  Polity,"  p. 

97.) 

"Our  Episcopal  brethren  honestly  differ  from  us  in  their  views  as  to 
the  divinely  ordained  constitution  of  the  Church  and  of  the  ministry.  We 
think  that  they  have  departed  from  the  Apostolic  and  primitive  model ;  .they 
think  that  we  have  done  so.     But  the  substance  ought  not  to  be  confounded 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  539 

5.  The  Prelatic  Argument. 

Prelacy  is  not  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  Its  strength  lies  oth- 
erwhere. The  Congregationalist  and  the  Presbyterian  bring  their 
systems  at  once  and  solely  to  the  judgment  of  the  written  Word, 
as  the  tribunal  before  which  they  must  stand  or  fall.  But  this 
one  and  sufficient  test  does  not  clearly  appear  in  the  procedure 
of  the  prelatist.  He  is  much  occupied  with  the  constitutional 
history  of  the  post-apostolic  and  the  medieval  Church,  He  finds 
prelacy,  as  a  matter  of  historic  fact,  largely  in  possession  of  the 
field  from  the  third  century  onward ;  and  there  is  great  power 
and  advantage  in  possession — with  many  minds  it  is  nine-tenths 
of  the  argument.  He  finds  a  succession  of  bishops  ruling  and 
reigning  through  hundreds  of  years.  These  bishops  assert  that 
the  Church  is  continuous  in  a  tactual  line  of  authoritative  over- 
seers, each  an  ecclesiastic  lord,  from  Christ  through  the  Apos- 
tles unto  the  present  day;  and  the  prelatist  allows  the  claim. 
Apostolic  succession  appears  as  a  formative  principle  in  church 
history ;  and  he  accepts  the  principle.  Then,  through  searching 
the  Scriptures,  he  finds  what  he  can  to  confirm  the  imposing  his- 
toric claim — and  seems  here  content,  unhappily,  with  listening  to 
the  echo  of  his  own  ideas. 

This  attitude  of  the  prelatic  mind  is  strikingly  exemplified  in 
Canon  (now  Bishop)  Gore's  apology  for  the  principle  of  apos- 
tolic succession — "The  Church  and  the  Ministry."  The  author, 
after  preliminary  explanations  (chs.  I.,  II.),  presents  immediate- 
ly "The  Witness  of  Church  History"  (ch.  HI.) — "to  exhibit  the 
extent  to  which  in  church  history  the  principle  of  the  apostolic 
succession  has  been  postulated  and  acted  upon  since  the  time 
when  the  continuous  record  begins."^  Then  he  brings  forward 
the  Scripture  argument  (ch.  IV.).  This  order,  "which  treats 
the  question,  What  has  the  Church  in  fact  believed  about  her 
ministry?  as  preliminary  to  the  investigation  of  her  title-deeds," 

with  the  form.  A  church  may  have  unfaiHng  marks  of  being  a  true  church, 
though  it  may  be  imperfectly  organized."  (Committee  on  Church  Unity  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1887.) 

'P.    XV. 


540  Christianity  as  Organised 

has  been  chosen,  he  explicitly  declares,  because  "it  was  hardly 
possible  for  the  present  writer  to  treat  the  question  in  any  other 
order,"  and  this  because  "a  book  had  better  represent  that  process 
of  'labor'  by  which  its  writer's  opinions  have  been  formed.'" 

Especially  are  this  class  of  theologians  inclined  to  ascribe  a 
determinative  vakie  to  the  faith  and  the  forms  of  early  Chris- 
tianity. Thus  the  Anglo-Catholic  may  be  found  ending  his  quest 
practically  in  the  Ante-Nicene  Church.  There  he  finds  the  au- 
thoritative model,  uncorrupted  as  yet  by  the  usurpations  of 
Rome,  in  both  doctrine  and  polity,  for  the  subsequent  ages. 
There,  rather  than  in  the  New  Testament  itself,  appears  to  him 
the  embodiment  of  the  mind  of  the  Master  as  to  the  organic 
form  of  Christianity.^ 

But  we  are  concerned  only  about  the  Scripture  argument  for 
the  divine  right  of  prelacy ;  and  this  having  already  been  given 
under  the  title  of  "The  Apostolic  Succession,"^  need  not  here  be 
repeated. 

And  if  surprise  be  felt  that  so  inconclusive  an  argument  as 
that  for  the  divine  right  of  prelacy  should  by  a  considerable  class 
of  cultured  minds  be  regarded  as  sufficient,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  to  these  same  minds  the  New  Testament  argument  for  sac- 
erdotalism seems  equally  satisfactory.  For  example:  "We  ac- 
cept the  Real  Presence,"  says  Canon  Gore  in  "Roman  Catholic 
Claims,"  "because  (a)  it  was  taught  by  the  Fathers  of  East  and 
West  from  the  first;  (b)  it  is  confirmed  by  the  natural  meanings 
of  our  Lord's  words  and  the  language  of  St.  Paul  in  his  epis- 
tles."* One  who  can  so  read  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  as  to  be 
confirmed  in  his  belief  that  the  Apostles  were  priests,  need  ex- 
pect no  difficulty  in  finding  from  the  same  sources  confirmation 

'P.  xvi. 

*"Here,  then,  the  Church  of  England  takes  her  position,  doing  her  best 
to  stand  upon  the  old  ways,  holding  to  the  ancient  principles  of  the  Church, 
but  refusing  to  identify  medieval  dogmas  with  primitive  beliefs,  and  also  re- 
fusing, under  the  pretext  [princifyle]  of  loyalty  to  the  Scriptures,  to  disregard 
the  early  customs  and  traditions  of  the  apostolic  Church."'  (William  Clark, 
M.A.  (Oxon.),  "The  Anglican  Reformation,"  p.  459.) 

'Part  II.,  chs.  XL,  XII.  'P.  91. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  541 

of  the  belief  that  they  were  prelates  and  transmitters  of  prelacy 
to  all  subsequent  ages. 

It  is  pertinent,  though  painful,  to  note  also  that  the  breadth 
of  practical  application  which  the  prelatist  claims  for  his  con- 
clusions is  inversely  proportioned  to  the  strength  of  argument  by 
which  they  are  supported.  He  would  exclude  all  Christians  who 
are  not  organized  under  the  prelatic  polity  from  membership  in 
the  Church  of  Christ. 

6.  The  Papal  Argument. 

With  the  Roman  Catholic  the  Church  is  first.  It  stands  ever- 
more as  the  one  teacher  of  truth.  The  Scriptures  indeed  are  in- 
fallible ;  but  they  are  given  as  a  depositum  to  the  Church,  which, 
speaking  supremely  through  the  pope,  is  their  only  infallible  in- 
terpreter. Should  tlie  papist,  therefore,  wish  to  satisfy  his  mind 
concerning  the  divine  right  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  to  govern  all 
Christians,  he  will  not  inquire  of  the  Scriptures.  He  will  ask 
the  bishop  of  Rome  himself,  and  rest  silent,  if  not  content,  with 
the  answer. 

This  answer,  however,  will  not  avail  for  other  inquirers. 
Should  they  be  Protestants,  Scriptural  proof  must  be  offered. 
"But  have  we  any  positive  proof,"  asks  Cardinal  Gibbons,  "that 
Christ  did  appoint  a  supreme  ruler  over  his  Church?  To  those, 
indeed,  who  read  the  Scriptures  with  the  single  eye  of  a  pure 
intention,  the  most  abundant  evidence  of  this  fact  is  furnished.'" 

This  evidence  is  the  primacy  of  Peter.  Christ  declared  that 
upon  Peter,  as  a  rock,  he  would  build  his  Church,  and  to  him 
would  he  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.^  And  this 
investiture  of  power  is  supposed  to  be  confimied  by  the  words, 
"Do  thou,  when  once  thou  hast  turned  again,  stablish  thy  breth- 
ren,"^ and  by  the  charge,  "Feed  my  sheep."*  Also,  in  the  lists 
of  the  Apostles  as  given  in  the  Gospels,  the  name  of  Peter  stands 
first.  Then,  too,  when  he  had  spoken  in  the  council  in  Jerusa- 
lem., every  one  kept  silence.^ 

*"The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers,"  p.  117.  *Matt.  xvi.  13-19. 

•Luke  xxii.  32.  *John  xxi.  17.  ^Acts  xv.  12. 


542  Christianity  as  Organised 

One  feels  at  a  loss  to  determine  what  is  the  "pure  intention" 
that  can  find  here  that  "most  abundant  evidence"  of  which  the 
Cardinal  speaks — unless  indeed  it  be  the  intention  to  accept  with 
unquestioning  trust  whatever  the  Roman  Church  may  offer  in 
support  of  her  claims.  The  power  of  the  keys  was  not  only 
promised  by  Christ  to  Peter,  but  was  also  given  both  to  him  and 
to  the  other  Apostles/  and  to  the  Christian  congregation."  The 
Church  is  built  "upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  proph- 
ets, Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."^  Peter 
was  simply  first  in  activity,  outspokenness,  and  honor  among  the 
original  Twelve ;  it  was  he  that  first  preached  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
and  the  Resurrection  at  Pentecost  and  to  the  Gentiles,*  claiming 
for  himself  only  to  be  a  "fellow-elder  and  a  witness  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ"^ — and  that  was  his  primacy.  James,  not 
P,eter,  was  presiding  officer  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  and  ap- 
parently president  of  the  council  held  there.  The  silence  in  the 
council  was  for  the  purpose  of  hearkening  to  Barnabas  and  Saul 
— and  even  were  it  due  to  the  words  that  Peter  had  just  spoken, 
it  would  prove  nothing  to  the  point.*  The  apostle  Paul,  from 
the  beginning  of  his  missionary  career,  was  the  chief  leader  and 
caretaker  of  the  churches;  and  he  acknowledged  dependence  for 
his  apostleship  solely  upon  Christ,  not  upon  Peter  or  any  of  the 
Apostles  who  were  before  him.  It  came  to  him  "not  from  men, 
neither  through  man  [or,  a  man].'" 

Imagine  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  recognizing  a  constitu- 
tional authority  to  control  the  course  of  his  ministry  in  Simon 
Peter,  and  holding  himself  in  readiness  to  obey  his  commands. 
True,  he  was  formally  set  apart,  together  with  Barnabas,  to  a 
great  missionary  undertaking  whereunto  the  Spirit  of  God  had 
called  him.  Not,  however,  by  Simon  Peter,  nor  by  any  Apostle ; 
but  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands,  after  fasting  and  prayer,  of 
prophets  and  teachers,  his  brethren,  in  the  Christian  congrega- 
tion of  Antioch — whence  and  not  from  Jerusalem  he  went  forth.* 


^John  XX.  22,  23.  ^Eph.  ii.  20.  ^i  Pet.  v.  i.  ''Gal.  i.  I. 

"Matt,  xviii    15-20.  *Acts  x.  "Acts  xv.   12.  *Acts  xiii,  1-3. 


The  Idea  of  Divine  Right  543 

But  even  supposing,  in  the  face  of  the  whole  spirit  and  teach- 
ing of  the  New  Testament,  that  Peter's  primacy  was  that  of  "a 
supreme  ruler  over  Christ's  Church,"  the  contention  that  this 
rulership  has  been  transmitted  to  the  bishops  of  Rome,  making 
them,  each  in  succession,  the  absolute  ruler,  final  judge,  and  in- 
fallible teacher  of  all  churches  and  all  Christians,  is  simply  "the 
annihilating  polemics  of  assertion." 

Prelacy  and  papacy  are  alike  in  the  exclusiveness  of  their 
claim.  Obedience  to  some  bishop,  in  the  one  case,  as  obedience 
to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  other,  is  accounted  necessary  to 
membership  in  the  Church  of  God.  But  as  to  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  those  who  reject  his  supremacy  are  officially  anathe- 
matized. 

7.  Conclusions. 

Now  among  Christians  who  believe  that  no  particular  form 
of  outward  organization  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  tlie  differences  of  ecclesiastic  structure  are  not 
of  serious  import.  But  when  it  is  put  forward  as  an  article  of 
faith,  that  one  designated  governmental  form  of  Christianity  is 
necessary  to  the  Church's  very  existence,  covenanted  grace  flow- 
ing into  human  hearts  through  that  channel  only,  a  radically  dif- 
ferent conception  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  involved.  So  the 
inquiry  now  concerns  an  essential  element  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion.^ 

If  Jesus  Christ  did  organize  his  Church  in  a  tactual  succession 
of  bishops,  with  or  without  a  personal  autocratic  head,  inside 
of  which  are  all  the  blessings  of  his  covenant  and  outside  of 
which  are  none,  then  those  who  deny  this  apostolic  succession 
are  chargeable  with  rebellion  against  the  Divine  order  and  with 
schism  in  the  body  of  Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Jesus  Christ 
did  not  so  organize  his  Church,  then  those  who  affirm  such  an 
apostolic  succession  are  chargeable  with  these  same  offenses. 

^"In  a  word,  this  book  claims  on  behalf  of  the  apostolic  succession  that  it 
must  be  reckoned  with  as  a  permanent  and  essential  element  of  Christianity." 
(Gore,  "The  Church  and  the  IMiniftry,"  p.  xiv.) 


544  Christianity  as  Organised 

Moreover,  the  burden  of  proof  rests  upon  those  who  affirm. 
The  advocates  of  the  sacerdotal  episcopal  succession  must  prove 
their  case.  Until  then  the  demand  that  it  shall  be  accepted  by- 
others — save  by  the  unthinking  or  the  will-less — is  worse  than 
idle.  In  the  civil  courts  no  man  may  be  condemned  so  long  as 
there  remains  a  reasonable  doubt  of  his  innocence..  What  has 
been  the  amount  and  character  of  the  evidence  on  which,  in  the 
ecclesiastical  court,  multiplied  millions  of  evangelic  Christians 
have  been  condemned  as  having  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  covenanted 
blessings  of  the  Church  of  Christ? 

It  is  a  true  and  most  sacred  idea,  that  of  divine  right.  Not 
permission  only  but  duty  as  well  are  included  in  it.  Nor  is  there 
any  sphere  of  life  and  activity  from  which  it  can  be  shut  out. 
Whatever,  being  not  unlawful,  is  expedient,  may  and  mnst  be 
done.  Either  an  individual  or  a  society  may  not  only  claim  the 
right  to  do  it,  but  must  do  it  because  it  is  right. 

Within  these  limits  of  lawfulness  and  expediency,  therefore, 
all  church  organization  is  alike  jure  divino.  For  such  organi- 
zation is  something  that  may  he  and  that  ought  to  he. 

But  neither  is  this  all.  The  supreme  constructive  force  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  that  of  rights,  nor  is  it  that  of  the  right. 
The  Divine  Builder  of  the  Church,  let  it  never  be  forgotten, 
found  the  symbol  of  his  power  and  wisdom  in  the  cross.  And 
only  as  sharers  in  his  mind  can  workers  together  with  him  plan 
and  build  with  true  success.  The  heart  of  love  molds  and  colors 
the  outward  order.  Think  of  an  ecclesiastic  economy  taking 
form  from  the  question,  Which  of  us  shall  be  greatest?  as  com- 
pared with  one  that  should  be  directed  by  the  motive:  "For  all 
things  are  for  A^our  sakes,  that  the  grace,  being  multiplied 
through  the  many,  may  cause  the  thanksgiving  to  abound  unto 
the  glory  of  God."  Christianity  as  organized  is  to  be  for  service, 
sacrificial  and  unceasing.  Hence  its  highest  formative  force: 
"love  buildeth  up." 


CONCLUSION. 

THE  PROPHET  IN  ADMLNISTRATION. 

Our  excursion  into  the  field  of  ecclesiolog-y  is  here  about  at 
an  end.  Its  results  hardly  call  for  a  formal  summing  up.  But  it 
seems  not  unfitting,  now  at  the  last,  to  dwell  for  a  little  while, 
in  connection  with  a  word  of  resume,  upon  a  certain  personal 
qualification  in  whoever  would  conduct  successfully  the  business 
of  organized  Christianity. 

I.  Formative  Ideas  in  Church  Organization. 

The  sources  of  human  power,  let  us  not  refuse  to  be  again 
reminded,  are  in  that  which  is  invisible.  They  are  not  to  be 
found  in  muscle  or  nerve,  but  in  ideas,  affections,  aspirations, 
choices,  plans,  purposes.  We  could  live  on  without  the  visible 
world,  and  before  long  shall  do  so.  Whatever  works,  therefore, 
men  may  produce  on  earth  are  wrought  out  indeed  through  the 
body,  but  from  and  by  the  unseen  conscious  self.  This  is  equally 
true,  whether  the  product  be  a  mechanism  or  an  institution — 
equally  true  of  the  houses  we  build  and  of  the  social  organiza- 
tions, political,  religious,  or  other,  which  may  hold  meetings  in 
them.  Whatever  else  any  such  things  may  be,  they  are  visualized 
ideas.  Take  the  ideas  out  of  a  watch  or  a  pocketknife,  and  there 
is  nothing  left.  You  have  robbed  timepiece  and  knife  of  that 
without  which  neither  of  them  would  or  could  have  come  into 
existence.  Take  the  ideas  out  of  the  organized  government  of 
the  American  commonwealth,  and  there  is  nothing  left  to  con- 
cern yourself  about.  You  have  taken  away  that  without  which 
no  organized  government  would  or  could  ever  have  come  into 
existence.  So,  in  order  to  appreciate  any  mechanical  product  or 
any  institution,  it  must  needs  be  looked  at  both  from  without  and 
from  within — from  without  to  see  what  it  is,  from  within  to 
see  what  it  means. 

Now  we  have  been  led  to  recognize  in  certain  ideas — such  as 
55  (545) 


546  Christianity  as  Organised 

fellowship  in  Christ,  social  dependence,  individualism,  divine 
vocation,  representation,  service,  authority  and  obedience,  unity, 
autonomy,  evangelism — the  true  determining  forces  in  church 
organization. 

It  follows  that  for  the  administration  of  government  in  the 
Church  there  is  demanded  not  only  administrative  skill  but  at 
the  same  time  a  distinctly  higher  personal  quality — namely,  spir- 
itual insight.  For  the  heart  of  truth  in  the  ideas  must  be  known 
by  him  who  would  give  it  the  most  effective  practical  form  of 
expression. 

In  the  Church  of  the  Old  Covenant  these  two  functions  may 
be  described  as  prophecy  and  kingship.  On  the  throne  of  Israel 
sat,  indeed,  the  king,  but  beside  him  stood  the  prophet.  Was  it 
by  a  Divine  ordinance  that  the  king  reigned?  It  was  likewise  a 
Divine  word  that  the  prophet  spoke. ^  Thus  the  living  voice  of 
the  men  of  spiritual  insight  was  no  less  truly  a  part  of  the  the- 
ocratic polity  of  the  Hebrew  Church-State  than  were  the  com- 
mands of  the  monarch  or  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  which  the 
inspired  lawgiver  read,  beneath  the  shadow  of  Sinai,  in  the  hear- 
ing of  the  people.'' 

In  the  Church  of  the  New  Covenant,  essentially  the  same  two 
functions,  though  of  course  under  other  than  the  ancient  forms, 
make  their  appearance.  "\An-iether  prophecy,  let  us  prophesy;" 
"he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence."*  "Do  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist;" "that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  are 
wanting,  and  appoint  elders  in  every  city."*  On  the  one  hand, 
the  mystery  of  redeeming  love  and  the  spiritual  morality  of  the 
gospel  were  to  be  unfolded ;  on  the  other,  the  temporal  and  gov- 
ernmental affairs  of  the  churches  were  to  be  administered.  In 
brief,  there  was  a  prophetic  ministry — Apostles,  prophets,  teach- 
ers; and  there  was  also  a  ministry  of  government — presbyter- 
bishops  and  deacons. 


^2  Sam.  vii.  1-17;  i  Kings  xviii.  16-21;  2  Kings  ix.  1-7;  Isa.  xxxvii.  21-35; 
xxxix.  1-8. 

""Ex.  xxiv.  7.  ^Rom.  xii.  6,  8.  *2  Tim.  iv.  5;  Titus  i.  5. 


The  Prophet  in  .Id  mi  nisi  ration  547 

In  the  course  of  the  second  centur\'  the  prophetic  ministry,  as 
we  have  further  seen,  decHned  under  the  encroachments  of  the 
ministry  of  go\^ernment.  Already  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
century,  Ignatius,  though  claiming  as  for  himself  to  speak  im- 
mediately from  God — "I  got  no  intelligence  from  any  man,  but 
the  Spirit  proclaimed  these  words.  Do  nothing  without  the  bish- 
op'"— has  not  a  syllable  of  indorsement  for  the  prophets  of  his 
day.  On  the  contrary,  he  makes  the  Christian's  duty  consist  in 
unquestioning  obedience  to  the  office-bearers  of  the  Church.  At 
the  close  of  the  century  we  find  Irenreus  urging  obedience  not  to 
the  prophet  but  to  the  presbyter  in  his  office  of  both  superin- 
tendency  and  teaching.  "It  is  incumbent,"  he  insists,  "to  obey 
the  presbyters  who  are  in  the  Church,"  "those  who  together  with 
the  episcopate  have  received  a  sure  gift  of  truth,  according  to 
the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father."  For  without  the  peace  of 
unity  and  order,  how  could  there  be  hope  of  any  large  achieve- 
ment? And  the  chief  office-bearer,  the  bishop,  with  his  board 
of  assistants,  the  presbyters,  was  the  bond  of  this  peace.  They 
had  the  sufficient  "gift  of  truth."  The  man  who  came  profess- 
ing to  convey  a  message  direct  from  God  might  prove  a  disturb- 
ing element  in  the  community.  Let  him  be  restrained  or  put  to 
silence  for  the  good  of  the  Cause.  Such  was  the  ecclesiastic 
arsrument  and  decision. 


'&' 


2.  Protest  against  the  Suppression  of  Prophecy. 

It  was  only  after  a  vigorous  and  prolonged  protest,  however, 
that  prophetism  yielded  its  position.  And  its  defeat  was  due 
not  wholly  to  episcopal  domination,  but  in  large  measure  to 
its  own  inherent  weaknesses.  For  the  prophet,  like  the  bishop, 
was  imperfect  in  spiritual  character ;  and  the  heavenly  light  of 
truth  that  was  in  him  proved  sometimes  to  be  darkness.  He 
might  be  the  subject  of  more  or  less  serious  errors,  vagaries,  ex- 
cesses. 

This  was  conspicuously  illustrated  in  Montanism,  the  organ- 

^To  the  Philadelphians,  7. 


54^  Christianity  as  Organised 

ized  form  which  the  prophetic  break  with  ecclesiasticism  took  in 
the  second  and  third  centuries.  The  Montanists,  rejecting  none 
of  the  generally  received  doctrines  of  Christianity,  stood,  on 
the  contrary,  as  outspoken  witnesses  for  two  great  New  Testa- 
ment principles :  for  the  perpetual  guidance  of  Christ's  people  by 
the  Spirit  as  given  to  them  all  without  reference  to  official  posi- 
tion, and  for  a  godly  church  discipline.  From  these  principles 
the  institutional  Christianity  of  the  age  was  turning  away  more 
and  more ;  and  this  downgrade  movement  the  prophetic  spirit 
strenuously  resisted.  But  the  teachings  of  Montanism,  in  which 
that  spirit  had  chiefly  found  expression,  were  so  severe  toward 
the  penitent  backslider  and  so  corrupted  with  superstitious  be- 
liefs (if  we  may  believe  the  accounts  that  have  come  down  to 
us  from  its  opponents)  as  to  fail  of  their  proper  effect.  Mon- 
tanus  himself  was  a  fanatic,  professing  to  be  the  very  Spirit  of 
truth  whom  our  Lord  had  promised,  and  to  have  come  to  usher 
in  the  last  age  of  the  Church. 

Possibly  the  voice  of  more  enlightened  witnesses  might  have 
been  heeded,  and  Christendom  saved  from  much  externalism  and 
priestly  domination — none  can  tell.  But  Montanism  failed.  It 
was  stigmatized  as  a  heresy  and  a  sect — 

that  unpitying  Phrygian  sect  which  cried : 
"Him  can  no  fount  of  fresh  forgiveness  lave, 
Who  sins,  once  washed  by  the  baptismal  wave." 

And  after  persisting  through  four  hundred  years,  it  was  per- 
secuted out  of  existence  by  the  Imperial  government  in  alliance 
with  the  "Great,"  or  Catholic,  Church. 

But  the  loss  resulting  from  the  suppression  of  the  two  evan- 
gelic principles  for  which  this  notable  protest  stood  was  irrepa- 
rable. For  ecclesiasticism  had  all  things  now  in  its  own  hands, 
and  the  result  in  due  course  of  time  was  Romanism  with  the 
stereotyped  dogmas  of  its  teaching  and  ruling  hierarchy.  The 
prophet  was  slighted  or  forbidden,  as  an  intruder:  the  priest 
claimed  for  himself  every  needed  illumination  and  the  absolute 
right  to  rule.  Administration  had  become  all ;  authority,  the 
substitute  for  truth ;  the  rulers,  the  Church. 


The  Prophet  in  Administration  549 

3.  The  Christian  Prophet's  Gift  and  Messages. 

The  Christian  prophet  may  or  may  not  be  a  man  of  conspic- 
uous intellectual  ability.  He  may  or  may  not  be  an  eloquent 
orator.  He  may  either  write  or  speak.  The  essential  thing  is 
that  he  shall  live  "as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible,"  in  personal 
communion  with  the  Highest ;  and  that  he  shall  have  the  inner 
constraint  and  vocation  to  make  known  to  others,  so  far  as  he 
himself  may  have  received  it,  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  Let  it 
not  be  supposed  that  he  must  needs  have  some  new  truth  to 
tell.  Even  the  Prophet  of  prophets  came  chiefly  to  fulfill.  But 
that  which  has  been  declared  from  the  beginning  will  always 
find  in  the  prophet-preacher  a  new  utterance  and  an  instant  ap- 
plication to  existing  conditions  and  needs. 

Brooding  above  every  soul,  like  the  visible  sky  overhead,  are 
the  heavens  of  eternal  Truth  and  Righteousness.  In  any  land, 
on  any  sea,  wherever  a  human  soul  lives  and  moves,  the  light  is 
ever  falling  from  on  high  upon  that  soul.  Otherwise  moral  life 
in  its  universal  range  would  be  impossible  on  earth.  But  what 
others  may  refuse  to  see  or  may  see  less  clearly  in  this  light  of 
God,  or  may  feel  less  keenly,  or  may  hold  as  a  creed  of  the  intel- 
lect rather  than  a  personal  experience  and  law  of  daily  life,  be- 
comes on  the  prophet's  fire-touched  lips  a  present  and  tremendous 
reality. 

What  is  the  almighty  Power  by  which  the  worlds  were  made? 
God  is  Spirit,  answers  the  prophet,  and  is  seeking  men  to  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  What  is  man,  spirit  or  flesh? 
Man  is  essentially  spiritual,  in  his  innermost  nature  akin  to  the 
Creator,  proclaims  the  prophet,  and  therefore  to  be  governed  in 
the  whole  of  life  by  the  law  of  the  spirit  and  not  by  the  im- 
pulses of  the  flesh.  That  in  all  ages  is  the  word  of  the  prophetic 
witness.  That  is  to  him  the  eternal  Real  of  which  his  idealism, 
as  men  may  call  it,  is  the  true  though  imperfect  image. 

He  will  be  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  Falsehood,  dishon- 
esty, unrighteous  means  for  the  gaining  of  even  righteous  ends, 
whether  practiced  by  the  individual  or  by  the  community,  will 


550  Christianity  as  Organised 

not  interpret  itself  to  him  in  terms  of  bright-witted  expediency 
or  pardonable  weakness,  but  as  sin  against  God.  The  conven- 
tional morality  of  the  world  will  acquire  no  sanctity  in  his  eyes 
because  of  its  intrusion  into  the  Church.  Rather  will  it  receive 
the  heavier  condemnation.  He  will  weave  no  mesh  of  casuistry 
to  blind  his  eyes  withal.  He  will  expose,  not  indeed  without 
compassion  and  a  painful  sense  of  his  own  imperfections,  the 
moral  illusions  and  compromises  of  the  heart.  "And  the  hail 
will  sweep  away  the  refuge  of  lies."  Nor  may  he  call  any  man 
master  on  earth,  or  submit  the  testimony  of  the  conscience  or 
the  heart  that  beats  with  a  pulse  of  fire  within  his  own  breast  to 
any  lower  authority  than  that  of  the  one  Master  who  is  in 
heaven. 

But  if  the  prophet's  vision  be  not  too  restricted,  he  will  have 
another  and  a  greater  message  to  deliver.  Concerning  the  love 
of  God  and  his  good  pleasure  which  from  eternity  has  been  pur- 
posed in  Christ,  there  will  be  given  him  some  living  and  inter- 
pretative word.  Such  a  message  will  come  as  a  voice  of  salva- 
tion to  the  guilty  conscience,  will  kindle  a  glory  among  the  com- 
mon things  of  life,  will  make  all  righteous  conduct  an  inspiration 
and  a  joy.  For  "of  that  light"  of  life  also  the  prophet  of  this 
age  of  Christ  and  the  Spirit  is  "sent  to  bear  witness." 

Which  is  the  greater  function,  spiritual  insight  or  ecclesiastical 
government,  prophecy  or  administration?  It  is  as  if  one  should 
be  asked  to  decide  upon  the  relative  merits  of  thought  and  the 
alphabet.  It  is  a  question  of  truth  and  form.  It  is  to  make  com- 
parison between  Christianity  and  its  organization.  To  despise 
either  would  be  madness;  yet  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the 
two  should  be  classed  together.  "God  hath  set  some  in  the 
Church,  first  Apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers :"  after 
these  are  "helps,"  "governments."'  "It  is  not  fit,"  said  the 
Eleven,  "that  we  should  forsake  the  word  of  God,  and  serve 
tables."^  It  is  upon  "the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  proph- 
ets"— not  of  the  deacons  and  presbyter-bishops — that  the  new 

^i  Cor.  xii.  28.  ^Acts  vi.  2. 


The  PropJicf  in  Adniinisfrafion  551 

Israel  is  built  up  as  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord.'  Mary  of  Beth- 
any, illumined  by  the  spirit  of  self-forgetting  love  for  Christ, 
was  unconsciously  a  prophet — "she  hath  anointed  My  body  be- 
forehand for  the  burying:"  Judas,  treasurer  of  the  Twelve,  was 
an  administrator. 

Or,  going  back  to  the  great  primal  word  of  all,  we  have  the 
Lord's  own  explicit  promise  that  upon  the  spiritually  illumined 
soul,  the  confessing  disciple,  the  witness-bearing  prophet,  as  a 
foundation  stone,  he  will  build  his  ecclesia.  Economic  manage- 
ment is  indeed  an  important  means  toward  the  achievement  of 
the  Church's  end;  but  to  know  and  witness  the  revelation  of  the 
Father  in  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  the  Church  itself.' 

4.  Faults  of  the  Prophet. 

To-day,  as  heretofore,  the  Christian  prophet  can  lay  claim  to 
no  immunity  from  manifest  human  limitations  and  infirmities, 
or  from  besetting  sins.  His  vision  of  truth  at  many  points  may 
be  clouded.  His  lips  may  be  closed  in  culpable  silence  for  fear 
of  offending  some  seat  of  authority  or  of  losing  the  good  will 
of  friends. 

Or,  what  is  here  of  more  immediate  significance,  he  may  fail 
to  appreciate  the  difUcidties  of  administration.  Thus  he  will 
grow  impatient  at  the  office-bearer's  slowness  to  give  the  whole 
truth  the  sanction  of  insistent  positive  authority  within  his  juris- 
diction. For  example,  there  may  be  an  article  in  the  accepted 
creed  that  does  not  fairly  represent  the  most  enlightened  present 
judgment  of  the  Church — a  part  of  the  doctrinal  inheritance, 
let  us  suppose,  from  a  certain  great  but  not  inerrant  teacher,  a 
Martin  Luther,  a  John  Calvin,  or  some  other.  "Substitute  it 
at  once,"  cries  the  impatient  prophet,  "with  a  better."  But  ad- 
ministrative wisdom  will  consider  the  whole  effect  which  such 
a  credal  change  would  produce  upon  the  minds  of  believers, 
and  the  best  time  and  means  for  its  accomplishment ;  and  so 
may  not  be  ready  for  immediate  action.    Or,  there  may  be  some 

^Eph.  ii.  20,  21.  ^Matt.  xvi.   17,   18. 


552  CJiristianity  as  Orgojiirjcd 

feature  of  the  Church's  economy  that  has  apparently  outHved  its 
day  of  usefuhiess;  admirably  adapted  perhaps  to  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  originated,  it  does  not  so  well  suit  present 
conditions;  therefore — "lay  it  promptly  aside."  But  those  on 
whom  rests  chiefly  the  responsibility  of  its  abolition  may  ponder, 
Where  then  is  the  reasonable  assurance  of  securing"  a  better  in 
its  place?  Or,  to  take  still  another  instance,  there  are  moral 
practices  that  are  inconsistent  with  the  counsels  of  perfection; 
the  most  enlightened  consciences  cannot  follow  them  without 
grieving  the  Spirit  of  God ;  therefore — "let  them  be  forbidden, 
and  the  Church  purified  from  all  evil-doers."  Yet  the  elders  of 
the  Church,  in  their  watch-care  over  souls  in  all  stages  of  spir- 
itual development,  from  the  babes  in  Christ  who  in  a  sense  are 
"yet  carnal  and  walk  as  men"  to  the  maturest  saint  with  his 
clear-sighted  moral  judgment  and  faithful  will,  may  see  that 
some  things  should  be  temporarily  permitted,  though  not  ap- 
proved— "because  of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts."  Does  the 
Apostle,  who  is  both  prophet  and  administrator,  bid  the  brethren 
in  Corinth  exclude  from  church  fellowship  those  who  are  "yet 
carnal  and  walk  as  men?"  No;  it  would  be  like  casting  faulty 
little  children  out  of  the  household.  Does  he  also  bid  them  re- 
tain in  membership  the  incestuous  man,  as  they  seem  disposed 
to  do?  On  the  contrary,  he  bids  them  put  him  out — to  be  re- 
admitted only  on  repentance. 

Assuredly  it  behooves  Christ's  office-bearers  to  stand,  as  he 
stood,  inflexible  against  all  unrighteousness,  and  to  do  their 
official  duty  at  whatever  cost.  But  is  it  not  also  their  duty  to 
discriminate  both  between  the  lawful  and  the  unlawful  and  be- 
tween the  lawful  and  the  inexpedient,  and  without  a  moment's 
compromise  of  conscience  so  to  administer  the  discipline  and 
direct  the  appliances  of  the  Church  as  to  secure  the  greatest 
good  of  all?  Their  question  will  ever  be:  How  may  I  best  use 
"the  authority  which  the  Lord  gave  for  building  up,  and  not  for 
casting  down?"  And  the  answer  will  not  always  be  disclosed 
through  a  single  flash  of  insight.  Indeed,  the  idealistic  solution 
of  such  practical  questions  will  sometimes  be  liable  to  suspicion 


The  Prophet  in  Aduiinistratlon  553 

because  of  its  very  quickness  and  simplicity.  There  is  too  little 
difficulty  for  the  requirements  of  the  task — "How  is  it  that  thou 
hast  found  it  so  soon,  my  son?" 

5.  Faults  of  the  Administrator. 

Equally  grave  are  the  faults  of  the  administrator  in  the  house 
of  God. 

It  is  possible  for  him  practically  to  rest  in  the  Church  as  an 
end  in  itself,  instead  of  conducting  it  as  a  means  for  realizing 
the  Christianity  which  it  represents.  He  finds  it  already  estab- 
lished, an  old  and  respectable  institution.  It  provides  for  the 
religious  nature  of  its  membership,  offers  many  social  opportu- 
nities, brings  congenial  people  together,  serves  as  a  mutual  ben- 
eficiary association,  places  its  ministers  in  an  influential  position 
and  yields  them  a  steady,  if  not  an  affluent,  support.  Therefore, 
let  it  be  kept  up  under  a  prudent  and  conservative  administra- 
tion, regularly  resisting  every  troubler  of  its  peace.  It  was  in 
the  spirit  of  their  ancestral  order,  and  not  in  that  of  the  coming 
kingdom  of  God,  that  the  priests  in  Jerusalem  took  their  promi- 
nent part  in  sending  the  Prophet  of  prophets  to  crucifixion. 

As  the  mere  politician  has  forgotten,  if  he  ever  knew,  that 
his  party  has  no  right  or  reason  to  exist  except  for  the  sake  of 
the  government,  so  the  mere  ecclesiastic  seems  oblivious  of  the 
fact  that  the  Church  is  only  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  existing  order,  he  thinks,  must  be  maintained.  All  new 
aspects  and  accents  of  truth  are  regarded  as  presumably  false; 
all  new  modes  of  publishing  the  Gospel,  sensational;  all  new 
economic  measures,  superficial  and  impolitic.  Should  a  John 
Wyclif,  believing  that  "the  sacred  Scriptures  are  the  property  of 
the  people,  and  one  which  no  one  should  wrest  from  them," 
translate  these  Scriptures  into  English  for  all  Englishmen,  let 
people  be  instructed  that  "it  is  a  dangerous  thing,  as  witnesseth 
blessed  St.  Jerome,  to  translate  the  text  of  Scripture  out  of  one 
tongue  into  another."  Should  an  astronomer  read  the  sky  or  a 
geologist  the  rocks  or  a  biologist  the  forms  of  terrestrial  life 
differently  from  the  traditional  reading  of  the  Old  Testament 


554  Christianity  as  Organised 

Scriptures,  let  him  be  silenced  or  at  least  denounced  without  the 
lionor  of  a  respectful  hearing.  Should  a  Wesley  preach  to  the 
ignorant  multitude  that  they  may  know  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
by  a  divine  witness  within,  he  is  at  best  a  benevolent  stirrer  up 
of  fanaticism  throughout  the  land,  and  must  be  told  by  Bishop 
Joseph  Butler  that  "belief  in  the  immediate  guidance  of  God's 
Spirit  is  a  horrid  thing,  a  very  horrid  thing.''  Should  laymen, 
like  Robert  Raikes,  without  ordination  or  theological  training, 
be  moved  to  go  forth  and  gather  the  neglected  poor  children 
into  Sunday  schools,  it  is  an  unwarrantable  innovation  which 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  must  call  a  council  to  consider  and 
oppose.  Should  a  preacher  of  righteousness  arise  to  waken  the 
conscience  of  the  Christian  congregation  by  exposing  the  mam- 
mon worship  not  of  the  eighth  century  before  the  coming  of 
Christ  but  of  the  twentieth  century  after ;  should  he  declare  the 
just  judgments  of  God  concerning  manufacturers  and  trades- 
men who  for  money's  sake  keep  blighting  the  young  manhood 
of  the  land ;  should  the  "burden"  of  the  oppressed  who  are  not 
receiving  their  rightful  inheritance  in  sunlight  and  air  and  the 
products  of  their  labor  in  the  world  which  God  "has  given  to 
the  children  of  men,"  rest  very  heavy  upon  his  spirit — he  is  bid- 
den to  be  discreet  and  "go  slow."  Which  indeed  might  be  ac- 
cepted as  fairly  good  advice  if  it  did  not  mean,  being  interpreted, 
"Be  unfaithful,  and  do  nothing  at  all."  Let  the  impracticable 
prophets  and  teachers  be  stoned  with  stones :  no  future  genera- 
tion, it  is  thought,  will  ever  take  up  these  stones  to  build  them 
into  a  monument. 

Meanwhile  perhaps  the  churches,  under  their  respectable  offi- 
cial leadership,  do  not  go  forward.  All  around  them  are  large 
numbers  of  thoughtful,  intelligent  people  and  of  thoughtless,  un- 
intelligent people,  of  self-respecting  poor  people  and  of  the  ab- 
ject and  enfeebled,  whom  they  fail  to  interest  or  even  to  touch 
with  a  strong  brother's  hand.  Shall  there  be  no  well-planned, 
patient,  and  enthusiastic  effort  to  reach  the  increasing  multitude 
of  the  unchurched?  Are  the  methods  of  the  past  necessarily  the 
best  methods  for  present  conditions?     Shall  it  be  assumed  that 


The  PropJicf  ill  A duiinist ration  555 

inside  the  churches,  as  now  constituted,  are  included  substantial- 
ly all  persons  who  are  susceptible  of  moral  improvement  or  will- 
ing to  be  saved?  Where  is  the  yearning  heart  of  love  for  the 
lost? 

It  is  quite  possible  for  the  churches  of  a  community  to  show 
no  sense  of  obligation  to  grapple  with  the  problem  of  poverty. 
Or  their  voices  may  be  mute  and  their  hands  idle  in  the  pres- 
ence of  notoriously  prevalent  forms  of  injustice.  It  is  not  an 
unheard-of  state  of  things  for  them  even  to  look  with  indiffer- 
ence upon  the  cause  of  the  most  imperative  moral  reform.  They 
might  make  it  successful.  By  vital  united  action  they  could 
bring  to  bear  an  effectual  influence  for  the  protection  of  the 
young  from  organized  forms  of  vice,  for  the  help  of  the  poor 
and  the  incompetent,  for  temperance,  for  clean  and  wholesome 
living.  If  tliey  seem  but  half-hearted  about  such  things,  is  it 
that  they  have  no  mission  from  God  concerning  them?  or  is  it 
not  because  the  congregation  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  Man  is  some- 
how regarded,  whetlier  consciously  or  not,  as  an  end  in  itself 
rather  than  a  means  for  making  visible  and  dominant  the  inner 
kingdom  of  righteousness? 

Administration  may  also  be  too  easily  satisfied  zvith  external 
success.  The  eyes  of  the  prophet  are  continually  fixed  on  the 
invisible.     To  him  it  is 

Better  to  walk  the  world  unseen 
Than  watch  the  hour's  event. 

With  spiritual  values  only  is  he  concerned — with  things  as  they 
ought  to  be  rather  than  as  they  are.  But  the  very  office  of  the 
administrator  inclines  him  to  overestimate  things  as  they  are — 
things  that  can  be  seen  and  counted.  It  is  bitter  to  fail  or  to  have 
people  say  that  we  have  failed ;  and  what  is  more  assuring  than 
to  register  a  sort  of  success  that  may  be  known  and  applauded 
of  all  men?  The  Church  is  to  increase,  not  decrease  nor  simply 
hold  its  own.  The  annual  report  must  mark  advancement. 
Hence  numbers  are  emphasized  rather  than  quality;  ingather- 
ing, rather  than  edification ;  the  raising  of  money  and  the  erec- 


556  Christianity  as  Organised 

tion  of  church  edifices,  rather  than  growth  in  hoHness.  The 
divine  order  is  reversed.  Not  professedly  nor  with  full  inten- 
tion, but  nevertheless  really  the  administrator  becomes  unwisely 
attentive  to  external  prosperity.  "And  David's  heart  smote  him 
after  he  had  numbered  the  people;  and  David  said,  ...  I 
have  done  very  foolishly."  There  is  no  arithmetic  of  the  spir- 
itual life. 

Or,  still  again,  there  may  be  a  selfish  perversion  of  office. 
Love  of  power,  like  love  of  money,  is  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evils. 
Yet  even  the  ecclesiastical  leader  is  sometimes  justly  chargeable 
therewith.  Is  he  free  from  avarice?  It  is  well;  but  if  he  be 
tainted  with  arrogance  or  ambition — "by  that  sin  fell  the  an- 
gels." If  he  yield  to  the  love  of  place,  it  will  blind  his  spirit  to 
the  Christian  ideal — "How  can  ye  believe  who  receive  glory  one 
of  another,  and  the  glory  that  cometh  from  the  only  God  ye 
seek  not?"  To  cherish  the  passion  for  office  is  to  kill  the  passion 
for  souls.  Yet  it  may  be  done  even  by  one  who,  at  the  beginning 
of  his  career,  was  a  true-hearted  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  exercise  of  authority,  the  obedience  of  subordinates,  the 
deference  of  the  people  may  be  sweeter  than  honey  to  his  taste. 
It  may  outvalue  many  thousands  of  money.  Dreaming  of  these 
things  through  the  years,  he  plans  and  labors  and  makes  sacri- 
fices for  their  attainment.  If  not  directly,  in  numerous  indirect 
ways  instinctively  recognized  as  efficacious,  he  seeks  the  good 
will  of  the  governing  powers  and  the  suffrages  of  his  brethren. 
It  was  the  canny  advice  of  the  New  Style  Northern  Farmer  to 
his  son: 

"Doant  thou  marry  for  munny,  but  goa  wheer  munny  is." 

Not  daring  to  ask  for  votes,  the  office-seeker  may  make  himself 
as  genial  as  possible  and  go  where  the  voters  are. 

For  as  he  reckoneth  with  himself,  so  is  he : 
Eat  and  drink,  saith  he  to  thee; 
But  his  heart  is  not  with  thee. 

His  hospitality  spreads  the  table  not  for  his  guest  but  for  him- 
self. 


TJic  Prophet  in  Administration  557 

Thus  ecclesiastical  headship,  instead  of  being  accepted  in  gen- 
uine humility  as  a  sacred  trust,  has  been  sought  and  retained  for 
its  emoluments,  its  honor,  or  its  power.  As  purely  secular  and 
selfish  as  the  moti\e  of  any  aspirant  for  that  "gilded  perturba- 
tion" that  sits  upon  the  head  of  a  king,  is  the  motive  with  which 
some  chief  pastorate  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  may  be  wished  for 
and  won/ 

6.  No  Conflict  between  Spiritual  Insight  and  Ad- 
ministration. 

To  conclude.  The  prophet  as  such  cares  for  the  idea,  the 
spiritual  and  immutable  truth.  The  administrator  as  such  cares 
for  the  form,  the  organized  institution.  Are  these  two  things, 
then,  contrary  the  one  to  the  other?  So  far  from  being  con- 
trary, they  are  cooperant ;  for  the  ultimate  aims  of  both  are  the 
same.  Yet  such  is  the  wide  difference  between  them  that  he 
whose  calling  occupies  him  with  either  one  of  the  two  may  be 
deficient  in  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  other.  He  must 
have  acquaintance  with  both.  Like  soul  and  body,  though  great- 
ly differing,  they  are  vitally  related.  The  Christian  pastor,  whose 
ministry  is  to  the  soul,  may  fail  through  not  giving  due  honor  to 
the  bodily  organism.  The  physician,  whose  ministry  is  to  the 
body,  may  fail  through  disregarding  the  soul.  Similarly  with 
truth  and  organization,  principle  and  expediency,  the  gospel  and 
government,  prophet  and  administrator  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

So,  therefore,  when  the  grace  of  spiritual  insight  and  the  gift 
of  administrative  skill  are  united  in  the  same  person,  then  the 
question  of  true  ecclesiastical  oversight  is  solved.     We  are  told 

'Probably  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  more  true-hearted  and  diligent 
Christian  workers,  as  a  body,  than  the  preachers  of  the  British  Wesleyan 
Conference.  Yet  it  is  this  Conference  which  at  a  recent  session  (1907)  in 
City  Road  Chapel,  London,  was  asked  to  consider  the  resolution :  "That  the 
pastoral  session  of  this  Conference  expresses  its  abhorrence  of  the  persist- 
ent canvassing  for  honors  and  positions  in  the  Methodist  Church;  it  deplores 
that  the  custom  has  become  so  prevalent  in  Conferences  and  Synods,  and 
calls  on  all  the  brethren  to  do  their  utmost  to  put  down  a  system  so  open 
to  abuse." 


558  Christianity  as  Organised 

that  Frederick  the  Great  was  accustomed  to  say  that  if  he  de- 
sired the  ruin  of  a  province  he  "would  commit  it  to  the  govern- 
ment of  a  philosopher."  A  true  enough  saying,  no  doubt,  if  the 
brilliant  and  experienced  monarch  meant  a  mere  closet  philoso- 
pher. But  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  philosophic  mind 
is  in  itself  other  than  a  real  qualification  for  the  fine  and  difficult 
art  of  government.  The  ancient  dream  that  in  the  Ideal  Re- 
public philosophers  only  would  be  made  kings,  or  that  in  the 
mythical  Golden  Age  of  China  it  was  actually  so,  was  not  all  a 
dream.  Let  no  other  than  a  man  who  knows  the  things  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  his  own  heart  be  chosen  for  an  adminis- 
trative position  v^diose  object  is  to  make  that  kingdom  a  reality 
among  men. 

Here,  it  need  hardly  be  remarked,  is  no  plea  that  ''inefficient 
innocence"  or  wild-eyed  fanaticism  shall  have  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment intrusted  to  its  hands,  but  that  truth-seeking,  conscience, 
the  insight  of  moral  love,  spiritual  health  fulness  shall  be  en- 
throned, as  the  Maker  of  man  intended.  Surely  every  "king- 
dom" that  is  named  among  men  should  be  a  kingdom  of  right- 
eousness. Such  is  the  will  of  the  King  of  kings.  And  the 
Church  of  God,  standing  as  it  does  for  the  very  kingdom  of 
heaven  on  earth — shall  it  not  be  a  kingdom  of  righteousness, 
even  of  the  righteousness  which  may  be  described  most  truly  as 
holy  love? 

But  as  a  c[ualification  for  the  fine  discernment  and  faithful 
application  of  this  righteousness  there  is  needed  the  spirit  of  the 
prophet.  "Ambrose  alone,"  said  Theodosius  the  Great,  "de- 
serves the  title  of  bishop."  Why  so?  Because  Ambrose,  Bishop 
of  Milan,  in  the  spirit  of  a  Nathan  standing  before  the  guilty 
King  David,  reproved  the  most  powerful  monarch  of  the  age  for 
an  act  of  inhuman  cruelty,  thrust  him  back  from  the  church  door, 
and  excluded  him  for  the  space  of  eight  months  from  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  congregation.  "It  is  not  easy,"  said  the  humbled 
emperor,  "to  find  a  man  capable  of  teaching  me  the  truth."  But 
such  an  intrepid  administrator  of  the  truth  had  found  him. 

Let  the  spiritual  mind  illumine  the  masterful  understanding. 


The  Prophet  in  Adunuistration  559 

Let  the  statesman  be  a  seer.  Let  the  pilot  "know  the  stars  as 
well  as  the  sea."  Let  the  builder  of  church  organizations  be- 
long to  the  Pentecostal  company  who,  in  the  light  of  the  Spirit, 
see  visions  and  dream  dreams.  Let  the  moral  insight  and  the 
allied  moral  courage  of  the  ])rophet  nerve  the  hand  of  the  ad- 
ministrator. 

Who  was  the  lawgiver  of  Israel,  founder  of  the  common- 
wealth, the  first  great  statesman  and  leader,  perhaps  the  biggest- 
brained  man  of  the  very  ancient  world?  A  prophet.  "By  a 
prophet,"  says  Hosea,  "Jehovah  brought  Israel  up  out  of  Egypt.'" 
"There  hath  not  arisen  a  prophet  since  in  Israel  like  unto  Moses, 
whom  Jehovah  knew  face  to  face." 

Who  was  it  that  had  the  administrative  wisdom  to  lead  the 
people  into  a  closer  unity  and  an  unprecedented  prosperity,  and 
to  see  them  safely  through  the  perilous  transition  from  the  rule 
of  the  judges  to  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom?  It  was 
Samuel  the  seer.  It  was  the  prophet-judge,  the  man  whose  heart 
was  no  less  attentive  to  the  voice  of  Jehovah  than  his  hand  was 
steady  to  administer  the  law  and  do  the  truth.  "Speak,  Lord, 
for  thy  servant  heareth."  "Then  the  children  of  Israel  did  put 
away  the  Baalim  and  the  Ashtaroth,  and  served  Jehovah  only." 

Likewise,  when  the  stalwart  son  of  Kish  was  to  be  crowned 
as  Israel's  first  king,  he  was  bidden  by  Samuel  to  go  his  way 
till  he  should  meet  a  band  of  prophets  coming  down  from  a  high 
place  prophesying.  "And  the  spirit  of  Jehovah  will  come  might- 
ily upon  thee,"  said  his  inspired  director,  "and  thou  shalt  proph- 
esy with  them  and  shalt  be  turned  into  another  man."  And  as 
he  went  his  way  "God  gave  him  another  heart."  Asked  in  sur- 
prise the  people  who  had  known  him  before,  "Is  Saul  also  among 
the  prophets?"^  It  was  even  so;  because  he  had  been  chosen  to 
the  office  of  king.  Let  it  be  shown  in  a  surprising  and  remem- 
berable  life-picture,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  monarchy,  that 
back  of  the  scepter  of  Israel's  ruler  was  to  beat  the  heart  of  a 
prophet.     It  was  an  indispensable  qualification  for  the  ideal  king. 

^Hosea  xii.  13.  H  Sam.  x.  1-13. 


560  Christianity  as  Organized 

Yet  such  were  Saul's  limitations,  mental  and  moral,  tliat  no 
fullness  or  depth  of  the  inward  guiding  light  could  abide  with 
him;  and  here  lay  the  secret  of  his  painful  failure  on  the  throne. 
Then  arose  the  real  father  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy,  "founder 
of  the  kingdom  of  promise."  who  with  all  his  fearful  faults — 
his  sins  and  crimes — seems  ever  to  have  returned  penitently  as 
a  learner  to  the  feet  of  the  All-Wise,  and  to  say,  "Jehovah  will 
lighten  my  darkness."  For  in  the  person  of  a  gifted  shepherd 
lad  on  the  hills  of  Bethlehem  the  aged  Samuel  had  now  found 
potentially  both  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel  and  the  master-hand 
of  her  royal  government.  Psalmist  and  sovereign  were  one. 
Such  was  the  sublime  ideal :  not  a  priest-king  offering  sacrifices, 
but  a  prophet-king  discerning  the  will  of  God  and  ruling  the 
elect  people  with  Heaven-taught  wisdom. 

"Now  these  be  the  last  words  of  David.     .    .    . 
The  Rock  of  Israel  spake  to  me : 
One  that  ruleth  over  men  righteously, 
That  ruleth  in  the  fear  of  God, 

He  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  morning,  when  the  sun  riseth, 
A  morning  without  clouds; 

When  the  tender  grass  springeth  out  of  the  earth, 
Through  clear  shining  after  rain."^ 

But  is  not  this  very  same  truth  the  New  Testament  teaching 
concerning  vision  and  government,  prophecy  and  administration, 
in  the  churches  of  Christ?  We  have  taken  note  of  the  distinction 
between  the  ministry  of  government  and  the  prophetic  ministry ; 
we  have  now  to  note  the  fact  that  in  the  beginning  of  Christian 
organization  these  two  ministries  were  united  in  one  and  the 
same  person.  The  Apostles,  whom  Jesus  sent  forth  first  of  all 
as  prophets — "Behold,  I  send  unto  you  prophets  and  wise  men 
and  scribes"" — were  administrators.  And  when  it  became  ex- 
pedient for  them  to  be  relieved  of  certain  administrative  duties 
— such  as  the  distribution  of  alms — the  men  to  be  chosen  in 
their  place  must  be  "full  of  the  Spirit"  as  well  as  of  "wisdom."* 

'2  Sam.  xxiii.  i,  3,  4.  ^Matt.  xxiii.  34.     Cf.  ch.  x.  41. 

'Acts  iv.  34,  35 ;  vi.  1-6. 


The  Prophet  in  Adiuinistration  561 

Prophets  appear  as  cliief  men.  leaders,  rulers  (whether  strictly 
official  or  not) — both  speaking  the  word  of  God  and  bearing 
rule  over  the  congregation.'  Presbyters  who,  together  with  their 
presidency  of  the  churches,  labored  "in  the  word  and  in  teach- 
ing'' were  to  be  doubly  honored."  It  was  Timothy,  an  evan- 
gelist, charged  with  "handling  aright  the  word  of  truth,"  to 
whom  was  committed  as  a  vice-apostle  the  temporary  superin- 
tendency  of  the  church  in  Ephesus.'  It  was  prophets  and  teach- 
ers in  Antioch  who  laid  their  hands  upon  two  of  their  own  num- 
ber, to  send  them  away  on  a  special  mission  to  the  nations.* 

And  it  is  one  of  these  same  missionaries  who  unites  henceforth 
the  two  functions  most  conspicuously  in  his  own  ministry :  as  a 
prophet,  receiving  visions  and  revelations  from  the  Lord,  and 
declaring  the  spirituality  and  inexorableness  of  the  law,  the  ex- 
ceeding sinfulness  of  sin,  the  way  of  access  to  God,  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ ;  as  an  adminis- 
trator, planning  and  opening  the  way  for  the  universal  exten- 
sion of  organized  Christianity,  exercising  discipline,  ordaining 
elders,  sending  representatives  to  set  things  in  order  in  places 
where  he  could  not  be  personally  present.  At  one  time  we  find 
him  writing  to  the  church  in  Corinth :  "I  know  a  man  in  Christ, 
how  that  he  was  caught  up  into  Paradise,  and  heard 
unspeakable  words.'"*  At  another  time  he  sends  to  the  churches 
a  plan  for  gathering  money  for  the  relief  of  the  poor:  "Now 
concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints,  as  I  gave  order  to  the 
churches  of  Galatia.  so  also  do  ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the 
week  let  each  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  he  may  prosper,  that 
no  collections  be  made  when  I  come."* 

A  mystic,  was  he?  Truly  a  matchless  mystic,  if  to  call  this 
man  by  such  a  name  means  that,  through  the  divine  life  in  his 
own  spirit,  he  discerned  intuitively  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.     And  he  was  all  the  more  competent  lifter  of  a  collection 

*Acts  XV.  22,  32;  Heb.  xiii.  7.  *Acts  xiii.   1-3. 

'l   Tim.  V.   17.  "2  Cor.   xii.  2-4. 

'l  Tim.  i.  3;  2  Tim.  ii.  15.  'i  Cor.  xvi.  2,  3. 

36 


562  Christianity  as  Organised 

for  the  poor  and  director  of  the  external  affairs  of  the  churches 
because  of  that  spiritual  discernment.  For  the  heavenly  things 
interpret  the  earthly  and  show  the  eternal  relations  of  even  the 
lowliest  and  most  external  duty.  It  is  by  the  light  of  the  re- 
splendent sun,  millions  and  millions  of  miles  away,  that  men 
walk  on  their  own  little  planet ;  and  it  is  those  who  "walk  in  the 
light  as  God  is  in  the  light"  that  may  expect  to  see  clearly,  so 
as  to  organize  wisely,  all  service  for  Christ  and  his  kingdom., 
Except  in  that  light,  how  can  they  even  know  Christ  and  his 
kingdom,  for  whose  sake  the  Church  is  to  do  whatever  she  does  ? 

One  can  imagine  an  acceptable  priest  under  the  Old  Covenant 
pursuing  his  round  of  daily  duties  without  the  inner  teaching  of 
the  Spirit :  one  cannot  imagine  an  office-bearer  of  an  apostolic 
congregation  fulfilling  his  office  without  such  teaching. 

Nor  can  it  be  asserted  that  the  New  Testament  idea  is  prac- 
tically lost  and  forgotten.  Its  witness  has  been  wrought  into  the 
economy  of  all  evangelical  churches ;  for  it  is  the  minister  of 
the  gospel  who  is  chosen  as  best  fitted  for  the  ofiice  of  admin- 
istration. The  double  qualification  is  sought,  the  grace  of  spir- 
itual truth  and  the  gift  to  create  or  maintain  institutions.  Proph- 
et-rulers, preachers-in-charge,  are  appointed.  Because  not  less 
manifest  now  than  ever  in  Israel  or  ever  in  the  first  Christian 
century  is  the  need  of  the  heavenly  vision  to  the  man  on  whom 
shall  rest  the  organizing  and  governmental  care  of  the  churches. 
"O  Thou  Eternal  One,  I  must  go  up  to  the  Mount  ere  I  give 
laws  to  the  people." 

Is  the  double  need  of  grace  and  gift  sometimes  fulfilled  in 
power — as  in  the  case  of  the  strong  "practical  mystics,"  a  Wes- 
ley, a  Chalmers,  a  Fliedner,  a  Hudson  Taylor,  a  Dwight  L. 
Moody,  a  Hugh  Price  Hughes  ?  Then  may  be  heard  the  note  of 
progress  in  the  building  of  the  Giurch.  Then  indeed  will  that 
kingdom  of  love  and  of  law  in  which  Jesus  Christ  bears  the  scep- 
ter show  signs  of  its  presence  and  its  coming. 


Inde 


X 


INDEX. 


Acolyte,  the,  functions  of,  177. 

Administrator,  the,  must  have  spirit- 
ual insight,  546,  557-562;  may  rest 
in  the  Church  as  an  end,  553-555 ; 
may  be  satisfied  with  external  suc- 
cess, 555,  556;  may  pervert  his  of- 
fice, 556. 

Ambrose  of  Milan,  558. 

American  Episcopal  Methodism,  its 
early  connectionalism,  493,  494;  its 
government  under  Wesley,  494-497 ; 
its  sacramental  question,  497-500; 
its  superintendency,  500-502 ;  its  or- 
ganization into  a  church,  502 ;  its 
assertion  of  autonomy,  502-505 ; 
origin    of    its    presiding    eldership, 

505,  506;   its  General  Conferences, 

506,  507 ;  its  lay  representation, 
507-509;  its  bishops'  powers,  510; 
its  episcopal  office,  or  "order," 
511-513;  its  bishops'  limitations, 
513,  514;  its  adaptiveness,  515,  516; 
its  ministerial  character,  516,  517; 
its  utilization  of  lay  workers,  517; 
its  unity,  517;  its  organized  ag- 
gressiveness, 518;  its  defects  and 
perils,  518-520. 

Apostolic    Succession,  two  views   of, 
274-277;  its  history  in  the  Church 
of      England,      277-281,      414-417 
Scripture    argument    for,    281-286 
■  not    known    in    sub-apostolic    age 
286-288;    when    first    taught,    289 
why  no   early  testimony   for,   289 
290;    a    Roman    idea,    291;    its    as- 
sumptions, 293,  294 ;  a  violation  of 
all     analogies,    297-300;     not    sus- 
tained   by     experience,     300,     301 ; 
practical  test  of,  301-304;  the  truly 
divine,  309,  310;  the  truly  ecclesi- 
astical, 310-312;  the  truly  evangelic, 
312,    313;     the    truly    charismatic. 


313;  the  truly  apostolic,  313,  314; 
rejected  'by  the  Reformers,  412, 
413 ;  its  history  in  the  Church  of 
England,  413-417;  its  affinity  with 
sacerdotalism,  418,  419. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  46,  48,  346. 

Archbishop,  the,  origin  of  his  office, 
315,  316. 

Archdeacon,  the,  origin  and  devel- 
opment of,  171-173. 

Archpresbyter,  the,  origin  and  func- 
tions of,  222,  223 ;  rural,  223 ;  a 
present  familiar  type  of,  223,  234. 

Aristotle,  69. 

Arius,   364. 

Asbury,  Francis,  313,  412,  423,  494, 
500,  501,  502. 

Athanasius,    171. 

Attila  the  Hun.  ^2)7- 

Augustine  of  Canterbury.  253. 

Augustine  of  Hippo,  324,  326,  335, 
346. 

Authority,  as  degraded  in  Roman- 
ism, 96-100;  as  exemplified  in 
Protestantism,  104-106;  for  edifica- 
tion, 203 ;  may  be  nonofficial,  203, 
204;  in  heaven  and  earth,  204,  205; 
strained  views  of,  22,3-22,7 ;  instinc- 
tively acknowledged,  396;  as  taught 
in  New  Testament,  396,  397;  il- 
lustrated in  Presbyterianism,  397, 
398. 

Bacon,  Francis,  416. 

Bancroft,   Bishop   Richard,  416. 

Baptist  Churches,  the,  rise  and  prog- 
ress of,  386,  387 :  rules  and  princi- 
ples of,  387-389;  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per in,  389. 

Barrowism,  a  form  of  Congregation- 
alism, 379. 

Basil  the  Great,  78. 

(565) 


566 


Christianity  as  Organised 


Bede  the  Venerable,  85. 

Benedict,  the  Rule  of,  79,  80. 

Beneficence,  shown  in  the  ministry  of 
Jesus,  151;  shown  in  the  apostoHc 
age,  152-154;  to  be  practiced  with 
wisdom,  154,  155. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  50,  297. 

Beza,  Theodore,  413. 

Bishop,  the,  as  presiding  presbyter, 
218-221 ;  as  guarantor  of  true  doc- 
trine, 238-240;  his  personal  quali- 
fications, 256,  257;  as  a  civil  and 
military  oflficer,  257;  has  often  been 
worldly,  294-297. 

Boardman,  Richard,  494. 

Bohm,  Martin,  490,  491. 

Boniface,    the    Apostle    of    Germany, 

84,  253. 

Booth,  "General"  William,  422. 

Bossuet,  171. 

Brewster,   Wilham,  380. 

Brotherhood,  as  related  to  organiza- 
tion, 3,  4. 

Browne,  Robert,   193,  377,  378,  533- 

Bucer,  Martin,  413. 

Bulgaris   Eugenios,  79. 

Bunyan,  349,  389- 

Burke,   Edmund,   58. 

Butler,  Bishop  Joseph,  554. 

Calvin,   52,   224,   225,  226,   398,  399, 

400,  407,  413,  SSI- 
Cardinal,  office  of,  453,  454- 
Cartwright,  Thomas,  278,  280. 
Celibacy    in    the    Roman    priesthood, 

458,  4S9- 

Chalmers,  Thomas,  195,  562. 

Charlemagne,  253,  479. 

Christ,  as  the  unifying  truth,  4,  5,  10 ; 
power  in  personality  of,  5,  6;  as 
the  revelation  of  spiritual  truth,  6, 
7;  as  the  holy  one,  7;  as  master  of 
the  spirit,  8;  as  the  spiritual  ideal, 
8,  9;  as  the  atoning  Saviour,  9,  10. 

Chrysostom,  183. 

Church,  the,  as  a  brotherhood  organ- 
ized, 3,  4;   as  a  Christian  life  so- 


ciety, 24 ;  earlier  conditions  of  mem- 
bership in,  24-26;  present  condi- 
tions of  membership  in,  28-30;  or- 
ganization not  essential  to,  148; 
congregational  liberties  of,  148,  149; 
beneficence  of,  150-155;  not  dis- 
tinctively for  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  155,  156;  its  justification  in 
spiritual  need,  156,  157. 

Church  and  State,  under  the  medie- 
val papacy,  344,  34s ;  under  the 
reign  of  Constantine,  361-366;  re- 
lations of,  373;  in  England  and 
Russia,  435,  448. 

Church  of  England,  the,  a  clergy- 
church,  419,  420;  its  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, 420,  421 ;  its  benevolent 
institutions,  422;  its  extension  to 
America,  422-424;  its  relation  to 
the  Eastern  and  the  Roman  Church, 
432-434. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  264. 

Clement  of  Rome,  39,  132,  231. 

Coke,  Bishop  Thomas,  500,  502. 

Coleridge,   6. 

Columbus,  479. 

Confessional,  origin  of,  44,  45. 

Confirmation,  origin  of,  255,  256. 

Congregational  churches,  the,  their 
fundamental  idea,  374;  their  origin, 
375,  376;  their  second  formative 
idea,  376,  ;i77;  their  history  in  En- 
gland, 377-380;  their  American  his- 
tory, 380-383 ;  their  principles  and 
rules,  383-385 ;  their  missionary 
work,  385 ;  their  idea  of  divine 
right,  528-534- 

Constantine  the  Great,  50,  361,  362, 
363,  364,  479. 

Councils,  use  of  Jewish,  210;  uni- 
versality of,  350;  example  of  in 
Jerusalem,  351-354;  local  in  New 
Testament  times,  354;  early  inter- 
congregational,  354-358;  diocesan, 
358;  provincial  ante-Nicene  not 
authoritative,  358-361 ;  ecumenical, 
361-363;  some  decrees  of,  364-366; 


Index 


567 


subsequent  to  the  first,  366;  com- 
posed of  bishops  only,  366;  their 
dependence  on  the  emperor,  367- 
369;  their  doctrinal  authority  in 
Roman  and  Evangelical  churches, 
369,  370 ;  ecumenical,  in  Eastern 
Church,   438,  439. 

Cromwell,   Oliver,   379. 

Cyprian,  42,  137,  162,  207,  242,  243, 
244,  245,  246,  247,  248,  249,  250, 
306,  307,  3 IS,  322,  32s,  326,  328. 

Cyrus  the  Great,  340. 

Deaconess,  the,  rise  of  her  office,  182; 
in  the  4th  century,  183,  184;  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the 
"widow,"  184-186;  her  primitive 
duties,  186,  187;  her  ordination, 
187,  188;  causes  of  her  decline,  188, 
189;  in  what  respects  different 
from  the  "sister,"  192,  193 ;  renewal 
of  her  office  in  the  earlier  Protes- 
tant churches,  193,  194;  revival  of 
her  office  at  Kaiserwerth-on-thc- 
Rhine,  194-197;  in  the  Evangelical 
churches  of  to-day,  198,  199;  esti- 
mate of  her  office,  as  to  its  central 
idea,  190,  its  Scripture  precedents, 
199-201,  its  economic  aim,  201,  202, 
its  fruits,  202. 

Democracy  in  church  government, 
its  excellences,  390-392;  its  limita- 
tions and  dangers,  392-395. 

Descartes,  103,  104. 

Diaconate,  the,  characteristic  of 
Christianity,  150;  meaning  of  the 
word,  158;  duties  of  the  office  in 
apostolic  age,  158-162;  duties  in  the 
post-apostolic  age,  162,  163 ;  why 
such  high  qualifications  for  the  of- 
fice, 163-166;  in  conduct  of  wor- 
ship, 168,  169;  in  ministration  to 
the  poor,  169,  170;  in  administra- 
tion of  discipline,  170,  171 ;  an  office 
of  advisers  and  deputies,  171 ;  a 
stepping  stone  to  the  presbyterate, 
173,  174;  retrogressive  changes  in, 


i74>  175;  ill  the  present  age,  175, 
176;  in  the  Church  of  England,  305. 

Diocese,  the  bishop's,  its  origin  in 
the  city,  251,  252;  its  origin  in  the 
country,  252,  253 ;  its  origin  in 
Gaul  and  Spain,  253 ;  its  origin  in 
England  and  Germany,  253,  254. 

Dionysius   the   Areopagite,   209. 

"Disciples  of  Christ,"  the,  origin  and 
principles  of,  389,  390. 

Discipline,  formative  and  personal, 
32,  33 ;  formative  and  official,  33 ; 
corrective  and  personal,  33,  34; 
corrective  and  official,  34;  as  taught 
by  Christ,  34-37;  as  exemplified  by 
Paul,  37,  38;  in  post-apostolic 
times,  39;  in  the  case  of  back- 
sliders, 40-43 ;  in  medieval  times, 
43-49;  as  administered  to  heretics, 
50,  51;  Calvinian,  52;  as  a  motive 
of  Independency,  52,  53,  375,  376; 
as  illustrated  in  Methodism,  53-55; 
laxity  of,  55,  56;  difficulties  of,  56, 
57;   true  intent  of,  57,  58. 

Divine  right  in  church  government, 
as  a  question,  521,  522;  two  views 
of,  522;  what  makes  its  idea  at- 
tractive, 523-525 ;  presumptions  in 
its  favor,  525-528;  as  claimed  for 
Congregationalism,  528-534,  for 
Presbyterianism,  534-538,  for  prel- 
acy, 539-541,  for  papacy,  541-543; 
when  a  vital  question,  543;  when 
a  true  idea,  544. 

Dominic,  85,  88. 

Doorkeeper,  the,  in  the  early  Church, 
181. 

Embury,  Philip,  493. 

Emmons,  Nathaniel,  381. 

English  Wesleyan  Methodism,  its 
beginnings,  478;  origin  of  its 
itinerancy,  479,  480,  its  class  leaders, 
480,  481,  its  Conference,  481,  482; 
as  the  United  Society,  482,  483;  as 
a  church,  483,  484 ;  its  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, 484-486. 


568 


Christianity  as  Organised 


Episcopate,  the,  beginnings  of,  232, 
233;  completer  development  of,  233- 
237',  significance  of  Ignatius'  view 
of,  236;  as  the  depository  of  apos- 
tolic doctrine,  237-240;  responsible 
to  God  only,  242,  243 ;  a  bond  of 
unity,  243,  244,  249,  250,  306-309; 
an  immediate  gift  from  God,  246, 
247;  a  priesthood,  247,  248;  sup- 
posed to  have  originated  in  the 
presbyterate,  258-264;  supposed  to 
have  been  originally  different  from 
the  presbyterate,  265-268;  supposed 
to  have  originated  at  the  Lord's 
Supper,  268-270;  supposed  to  have 
originated  through  apostolic  suc- 
cession, 273;  as  a  center  of  unit3% 
306-309;  its  inevitableness,  409; 
its  prototype,  410;  as  illustrated  in 
civil  government,  411 ;  the  apostolic 
and  the  sacerdotal  idea  of,  411, 
412;  its  abuses  not  inevitable,  462; 
its  origin  and  character  in  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  463- 
466;  in  the  Moravian  Church,  470, 
473.  476;  in  the  Canadian  Church, 
487;  in  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  487;  in  the  Methodist 
Church  of  Japan,  487,  488;  an  out- 
come of  evangelism,  488,  489. 

Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  the, 
in  Europe,  463-466;  in  America, 
466-469. 

Exorcist,  functions  of,  178,  179;  real 
significance  of,  179,  180. 

Experience,  a  method  of  philosophy 
and  theology,   102-104. 

Fellowship,  a  mark  of  Christianity, 
17,  18;  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus, 
19;  in  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 
20;  in  Christian  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, 20,  21 ;  as  a  formative  force 
in  the  Church,  23;  as  organized, 
58-62. 

Fenelon,  50. 

Fletcher  of  Madeley,  501. 


Fliedner,  Theodor,  194,  196,  562. 
Formative  Ideas,  545,  546. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  85,  86,  504. 
Franciscans,    as     educators,    85;.    as 

missionaries,  86,  87 ;   Third  Order 

of,  87. 
Fry,   Elisabeth,    195. 

Gibbons,  Archbishop,  98. 
Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  432. 
Gore,   Bishop  Charles,  280,  539. 
Goulbourn,  Dean  E.   M.,  308. 
Green,  Richard,  431. 
Gregory    the    Great,    216,    329,    330, 
331,  332,  338. 

Hall,  Robert,  389. 

Harnack,  Dr.  Adolph,  266,  269. 

Hatch,  Dr.  Edwin,  265,  266,  268,  280. 

Henry  VIII.,  362,  413. 

Hermas,  399. 

Hilary  of  Aries,  326. 

Hildebrand,   171,  292,  295,  338,  344. 

Hippolytus,   289. 

Hodge,   Charles,  536. 

Hohenzollerns,  the,  246. 

Honorius,  the  Emperor,  78. 

Hooker,   Richard,  204,  208,  424. 

Hiibmaier,  Balthasar,  386. 

Hughes,  Hugh  Price,  201,  562. 

Hypatia,  88. 

Ignatius  of  Antioch,  182,  233,  234, 
23s,  238,  241,  242,  243,  250,  287, 
288,  289,  307,  547. 

Imperialism  repressive  of  individual- 
ism, 68,  69;  a  formative  idea  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  292. 

Individualism,  developed  by  fellow- 
ship, 64-67;  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  65,  66;  why  repressed  in 
early  Church,  68-71 ;  demands 
liberty,  90,  91 ;  as  developed  by 
Protestantism,  91-93,  100,  loi ;  as 
repressed  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Reaction,  94;  as  repressed  by  the 
Roman  hierarchy,  98,  99;  its  dan- 


Index 


569 


gers,  99,  100;  its  abuse  in  Protes- 
tantism,   lOI,    lOJ. 

Indulgences,   development   of,  47-49. 

Innocent   I.,  324. 

Institutionalism,  in  Episcopal 
Churches,  429,  430;  sacerdotal,  430, 

431- 
Intention,  sacerdotal,  required  in  the 

Roman   Church,  298;   not   required 

in  the  Anglican  Church,  298-300. 
Irenaeus,  22,7,  238,  23c;,  240,  241,  250, 

263,  264,  287,  307,  357. 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  447. 

Jerome,  Sophronius  Eusebius,  80, 
87,  no,  162,  262,  269,  273. 

Jesuitism,  origin  of,  94,  95 ;  Fourth 
Vow  of,  96,  97;  activity  and  crimes 
of,  97,  98. 

John  the  Faster,  329,  331. 

JuHan  the  Emperor.  154. 

Justin   Martyr,   180,  232,  273,  399. 

Keller,  Helen,  297. 
Knox,  John,  332,  413. 

Laity,  the  ecclesiastical  idea  of,  138, 
139;  their  loss  of  rights,  139-141  ; 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  141 ;  in 
Protestantism,    147. 

Laud.  Archbishop,  412,  416. 

Leo  the  Great,  171,  324,  325,  327,  329, 
^2,2,  337.  412. 

Lightfoot,  Bishop  J.  B.,  269. 

Lord's  Supper,  the,  a  means  of  fel- 
lowship, 59,  60;  its  form  of  cele- 
bration, 132,  133 ;  its  place  in  wor- 
ship and  service,  169,  170;  the  pres- 
idency of,  220;  its  significance  in 
the  development  of  the  episcopate, 
271-273. 

Louise  le  Gras,  Madame,  190. 

Love,  as  a  response,  10,  11;  as  ex- 
pressed in  emotion,  11 ;  as  expressed 
in  will,  12;  lack  of  in  the  Church, 
14;  as  illustrated  in  patriotism,  15, 
16;     as     the    qualifj^ing    heart    of 


gifts,  126;  as  related  to  rights,  508, 

509;  as  the  builder  of  the  Church, 

544- 
Loyola,  Ignatius,  95,  96,  97. 
Luther,    93,    102,    103,    104,   224,   225, 

369,  398,  479,  55 T. 

Mather,  Alexander,  483. 

McConnell,  Dr.  S.  D.,  423. 

Melanchthon,  50. 

Menno   Simons,  386. 

Mills,  Samuel  John,  385. 

Milton,  225,  401,  535. 

Ministry,  the,  charismatic,  113-116; 
a  greater  and  a  less,  115,  116;  of 
government,  116- 118;  a  greater  and 
a  less,  118;  as  representative,  118- 
124;  as  divinely  appointed,  124-126; 
as  a  means  of  service,  126-129;  i" 
the  sub-apostolic  age,  131,  132; 
sharply  separated  from  the  people 
through  leaning  on  constituted  au- 
thority, 132,  through  the  form  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  132,  133, 
through  money,  133-135,  through 
privileges,  135,  136,  through  monas- 
ticism,  136,  137,  through  sacerdotal- 
ism, 137. 

Monastery,  the,  its  origin  and  mo- 
tives, 7Z-7^',  its  social  develop- 
ment, 76-78;  its  freedom,  77,  78; 
how  regulated,  78-82 ;  in  the  East, 
79;  as  related  to  the  priesthood, 
82;  as  related  to  the  episcopate  and 
the  papacy,  83,  84;  the  learning  of, 
84,  85 ;  the  missionary  zeal  of,  85, 
86;  decline  of,  87-89;  in  the  present 
day,  89;  tended  to  separate  minis- 
ter from  people,   136,    137. 

Montanism,  councils  for  the  suppres- 
sion of,  355,  356;  faults  and  fail- 
ure of,  547,  548. 

Montanus,  548. 

]\Tood5\  D.  L..  392,  562. 

^loravian  Church,  the,  as  the  "an- 
cient church,"  469-471 ;  as  the  "hid- 
den seed,"  471,  472;  as  the  resusci- 


570 


Christianity  as  Organised 


tated  church,  472,  473 ;  its  exclu- 
sive settlements,  473-475 ;  its  mis- 
sionary activity,  473,  474,  475 ;  its 
laws  and  regulations,  476,  477. 

Nelson,  John,  480. 

Newman,  Cardinal  J.  II.,  99.  332,  397, 

439- 
Nicholas   II.,   Czar,  447. 
Nightingale,   Florence,    198. 
Novatian,  254. 

Orders,  Holy  and  Minor,  181 ;  in  the 
Methodist  episcopacy,   511-513. 

Ordination,  evangeHc  and  sacerdotal 
idea  of,  141-143;  confers  no  special 
power,  149;  an  episcopal  function, 
254,  255;  Timothy's,  284-286;  phys- 
ical touch  of,  297,  298. 

Organization,  as  a  divine  idea,  109- 
III ;  its  beginnings  in  the  church 
in  Jerusalem,  iii,  112;  its  forms  in 
the  earlier  apostolic  time,  113- 116; 
its  forms  in  the  later  apostolic 
time,  116-118;  its  necessary  devel- 
opment, 143 ;  its  perverted  develop- 
ment, 143,  144;  its  need  of  divine 
guidance,  144-146;  not  confined  to 
ministerial  offices,  149. 

Origen,   182. 

Orthodox  Eastern  Church,  the,  its 
patriarchal  government,  436-439 ; 
orthodoxy  its  predominant  note, 
439-441 ;  as  to  reunion  with  Rome, 
440,  441 ;  its  forms  of  government, 
441-443 ;  its  church  music,  443 ;  its 
pictures,  images,  and  worship,  443, 

444- 
Otterbein,    Philip    William,  489.   490, 
491. 

Palmer,  Ray,  297. 

Papacy,  the,  an  outcome  of  the  Cyp- 
rianic  episcopate,  291,  292;  its 
origin,  323,  324 ;  early  monarchic 
acts  of,  324-326 ;  compared  with  the 
Cyprianic  system,  327,  328;  in  Mid- 


dle Ages,  329-331 ;  reverses  the  or- 
der of  historic  facts,  331;  its  usur- 
pations, 331,  332;  not  catholic,  333; 
Constantinople's  relation  to,  333; 
its  gift  of  government,  334,  335 ; 
its  opportunity  in  the  West,  335- 
338;  question  as  to  its  Christian 
character,  338-344;  its  claim  of 
sovereignty  over  nations,  344,  345 ; 
its  clami  of  infallibility,  345-347; 
its  dream  of  unity,  347-349;  its  ec- 
clesiastic and  theologic  authority, 
452,  453;  not  a  higher  order  than 
the  priesthood,  457,  458;  its  au- 
dacity, 460;  through  what  forces 
developed,  461 ;  its  argument  for 
divine   rights,    541-543- 

Parish,  the,  development  of,  71-73. 

Patriarchate,  the,  its  origin,  316,  317; 
preeminence  of  the  Roman,  317- 
322;  in  the  Orthodox  Eastern 
Church,  436-438. 

Penance,  public,  42,  43 ;  private,  43, 
4^1.;  substitutional,  46. 

Peter  the  Great,  362,  447. 

Pius  III.,  95. 

Pius  IX.,  89,  346,  347. 

Pius  X.,  98,  141. 

Pliny  the  Younger,  183. 

Polycarp,  163,  231,  232,  239,  267. 

Polycrates,   327. 

Pothinus  the  Martyr,  120. 

Prelacy,  its  fundamental  idea,  409; 
its  relation  to  the  English  monar- 
chy, 413,  414;  a  theory  of  diocesan 
government  only,  435,  436;  its  ar- 
gument for  divine  right,  539-541. 

Presbyterate.  the,  as  an  extension  of 
parenthood,  205,  206;  ancient  exam- 
ples of,  206,  207;  a  fatherly  office. 
208,  209;  in  ancient  Israel,  209,  210: 
in  New  Testament  times,  210-212; 
not  to  be  confounded  with  ruler- 
ship  of  the  synagogue,  211;  in  the 
apostolic  churches,  212,  '213;  its 
functions.  214,  215;  in  the  sub- 
apostolic    age,    215,    216;    Christian 


Index 


571 


formative  idea  of,  216-218;  per- 
verted into  priesthood,  221,  222;  as 
affected  by  the  Reformation,  22.;- 
227;  in  present-day  Protestant 
churches,  227 ;  gave  rise  to  the  epi^- 
copate,  258-264;  in  the  Church  ol 
England,  305. 

Presbyterianism  as  a  form  of  churcl; 
government,  in  Geneva,  398-401  : 
in  the  United  States,  401-404;  itr, 
fundamental  principles,  404;  it', 
view  of  the  continuity  of  the 
Church,  404,  405 ;  its  viev^'  of  infant 
church  membership,  405,  406;  its 
courts  in  gradation,  406;  its  catho- 
licity, 406;  its  strength  and  weak- 
ness, 406-408;  its  idea  of  divine 
right,  534-538. 

Prophet  in  administration,  the,  in 
Israel,  546;  in  the  apostolic  period, 
546;  in  the  2d  century,  547;  his 
suppression,  547,  548;  his  gift  and 
messages,  549,  550;  his  greatness, 
550,  551;  his  faults,  551-553- 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the,  or- 
ganization of,  424,  425 ;  as  com- 
pared with  the  English  Church, 
425-427 ;  its  forms  of  government, 
428,   429;    its    ecclesiastic   isolation, 

431-434. 
Provoost,  Bishop   Samuel,  425. 
Puritan,  the,  his  individualism,  102. 

Raikf.s,  Roei:rt,  194,  SSA- 

Rankin.  Thomas,  494,  500. 

Reader,  the,  needed  in  the  early 
Church,  180,   181. 

Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  the,  its 
episcopacy,  492. 

Reichard,    Gertrude,    196. 

Rol)inson,  Pastor  John,  379,  380,  534. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  the,  its  laws 
and  regulations,  454-457. 

Russo-Greek  Church,  the,  its  origin, 
444-447;  its  subjection  to  the  Czar, 
447-449;  its  forms  of  government, 
449,   450;    its   clergy,   450,   451;    its 


use  of  the  Scriptures,  451 ;  its  idola- 
try, 451,  452. 

S.\CERD0TALisM,  repressive  of  person- 
ality, 69,  70;  changed  ministry  into 

hierarchy,    137. 
Schaff,  Dr.  Philip,  323,  398. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  280. 
Seabury,  Bishop  Samuel,  425. 
Self-love,    the    rightness    of,    12,    13; 

the     lessening     consciousness     of, 

13- 
Service,  promotive  of  fellowship,  62, 

62;  the  idea  of  all  office,   126-129; 

exemplified  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  151 ; 

exemplified    in    medical    missions, 

167. 
Simon   Stylites,  86. 
Siricius,    Pope,   324. 
Sisterhoods,    192. 
Sisters  of  Charity,  their  origin,   189, 

190;  their  rule  of  life,  190,  191. 
Social    dependence,    in    worship,    21, 

22;  in  work,  22. 
Spurgeon,  C.  H.,  389. 
Stephen  of  Rome,  243,  324. 
Strawbridge,   Robert,  493. 
Sub-deacon,  the,  duties  of,  176,  177. 
Synagogue,  the,  worship  in,  218. 

Taylor,  Hudson,  562. 
Telcmachus  the  Monk,  78. 
Tertullian,  61,  178,  182,  264,  326,  327, 

335- 
Theodore  of  Canterbury,  254. 
Theodosius  the  Great,   558. 
Thornwell,  John  H.,  536. 

United  Brethren  in  Christ,  their 
origin,  489-492;  their  forms  of 
government,  492. 

Unity  as  a  Divine  idea,  228,  229;  in 
societies,  229,  230;  in  a  local 
church,  230;  its  development  in 
apostolic  and  sub  -  apostolic 
churches,  .?30-232;  doctrinal  stand- 
ard   of,    33!5-::?io;    papal    dream    of. 


572 


Christianity  as  Org^anizcd 


347,  348;   as  represented  by 
cils,  350,  351. 

Valentinian  til,  326. 
Victor  I.,  324,  327. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  189,  190,  191. 
Vladimir,  Grand  Prince,  446. 

Washington,  479. 

Webb,    Captain    Thomas,    493. 

Wesley,  Charles,  297. 


Wesley,  John,  17,  90,  332,  342,  478, 
479.  480,  481,  482,  483,  494,  495. 
496,  499,  500,  501,  502,  504,  554,  562. 

Wesley,  Susanna,  396. 

Whately,  Archbishop,  280,  294,  305, 

White,  Bishop  William,  424,  425. 

Whitgift,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
278,  280. 

Williams,  Roger,  387. 

Wise,  John,  381. 

Wyclif,   John,   553. 


Date  Due 


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